My general goal in research is to address a broad range of issues within the subject of competitive interactions, combining different abiotic and biotic factors within the same framework. Ultimately, I intend to merge applied and fundamental science to address pressing societal issues of scientific relevance.
My academic education is in evolutionary and developmental biology. During my PhD, and first postdoc in cE3c, in collaboration with the University of Montpellier, I investigated the consequences of multiple mating the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, a polyphagous cosmopolitan crop pest of high economic value. I have also explored the impact of population structure on the evolution of sexual conflict and sex allocation and searched for genetic correlations between demographic and reproductive traits.
Then, I moved to Stockholm University to investigate the impact of high temperature in reproductive traits, using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
In 2020, I moved back to ce3c, to study the adaptation of spider mites to multiple stressors, including to their host plants, pesticides and heat, in the pursuit of contributing more significantly to agricultural sustainability.
Portugal