Licenciatura in Marine Biology at the Faculty of Sciences/University of Lisbon, Portugal (1997).
PhD in Geography & Geosciences/Univ. of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK (2008).
FT research has focused on Marine Biotope Classification and Mapping, Statistical Modelling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Marine Biodiversity Cataloguing.
Since 1997, he participated and/or coordinated marine biology and seafloor surveys in Macaronesian MPAs. He was actively involved in the preparation and public presentation of the scientific management proposals for Azorean marine Special Areas of Conservation (Natura 2000 network) and implementation of OSPAR Convention Annex V in the Azores.
In the course of his studies and research activity FT has built a generalist perspective of the biodiversity of the Azores from intertidal to deep sea areas and developed an expertise in seafloor mapping. His main professional motivation has been the exploration of poorly-known biotopes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and their conservation.
During his post at the European Commission Joint Research Center, FT focused on mapping the distribution of Marine Ecosystem Services in the European Union maritime area using geospatial information on seabed habitats.
FT has authored or co-authored 40 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 6 book chapters, 48 technical-scientific reports, 40 scientific posters and 32 dissemination articles. Twenty nine (29) of his papers are indexed on the Web of Science.
FT participated in 32 marine research missions, 55 scientific meetings and 99 workshops, authoring or co-authoring 66 oral communications, 75 internal seminars and 13 dissemination seminars.
FT supervised 2 undergraduate students, 1 post-graduate specialization, 3 MSc and 2 PhDs in the fields of GIS, predictive modelling and biotope cataloguing.
FT has been a regular Portuguese delegate to the ICES Working Group on Marine Habitat Mapping as a result of his involvement in several projects with a Marine Habitat Mapping component (Maré, OGAMP, CoralFish, MeshAtlantic, DEEPFUN, MORPH).
FT has recently completed two research contracts with Ifremer (Brest, France) focusing on Modeling and Mapping Marine Species Distributions.