am a Junior Researcher at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (IGOT), University of Lisbon, currently in the fourth year of a six-year CEEC (Individual Scientific Employment Stimulus) contract. I hold a Master’s degree in Ecology and a PhD in Ecology and Biology of Global Change, completed in 2016 . My research focuses on understanding the effects of global change on terrestrial ecosystems, with particular emphasis on the impacts of climate change in Antarctica. To explore these dynamics, I combine ecological field data, ultra-high-resolution UAV-derived imagery, remote sensing, and spatial environmental modelling to examine vegetation patterns across spatial and environmental gradients. My work bridges the biological and physical dimensions of ecosystems, drawing on methods from ecology, biogeography, and geographic information science. I place particular emphasis on identifying environmental drivers of species distribution and community composition, using both taxonomic and functional trait metrics. One key area of my research is the development of ultra-high-resolution species distribution models for Antarctic vegetation. I have explored how microscale terrain variables and species interactions influence plant distribution patterns, showing that fine-scale complexity plays a critical role in shaping biogeographic responses to environmental change. These findings challenge traditional, climate-driven models and contribute to more spatially accurate forecasts of ecosystem shifts in extreme environments. My interest in linking science with policy and public engagement has also led me to develop work that integrates citizen science. I have led initiatives involving Antarctic tourists in data collection using mobile apps, focusing both on validating these tools for scientific use and evaluating their role in raising environmental awareness and promoting science diplomacy. This work aims to establish citizen science as a complementary source of ecological data in remote regions like Antarctica, while also strengthening public engagement in polar conservation. In recognition of my international contributions, I was invited to present at the 12th United Nations Forum on Forests at UN Headquarters in New York, where I proposed a global ecological indicator for monitoring global change impacts based on lichen diversity, an approach developed in my earlier work on environmental bioindicators. I have also contributed to public datasets and promote open science principles in polar research. To date, I have co-authored 36 ISI-indexed publications, with over 1100 citations and an H-index of 16 (Scopus, all indexed documents), as well as five book chapters. My research spans from Antarctic ecosystems to European drylands and polluted urban environments, consistently aiming to understand and track biodiversity responses to environmental pressures across different regions and scales. Overall, my work integrates the biological, physical, and human dimensions of global change, combining traditional ecological methods with advanced spatial tools to generate knowledge that informs science, policy, and society.