Ivânia Esteves is an Agricultural Engineer (University of Évora, 2001) with a PhD from Cranfield University (UK, 2007), specialising in plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) and sustainable crop protection. Her research focuses on understanding PPN biology and ecology and on developing environmentally sustainable management strategies, integrating biological control agents, natural nematicidal compounds, and molecular tools for nematode detection and characterisation. Following her PhD, she held a two-year postdoctoral position at Rothamsted Research (UK), studying the management of potato-cyst nematodes by maximising natural decline and population suppression. In 2009, she returned to Portugal and joined a research project at the University of Coimbra assessing the role of the nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia in the biological control of potato cyst nematodes (Globodera spp.). After an interruption for maternity leave, she held a postdoctoral fellowship from 2012 to 2018 investigating the occurrence and impact of root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) in potato crops. From 2019 to 2025, she held an Individual CEEC research contract at the Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE), University of Coimbra, where she established an independent research line dedicated to the sustainable management of Pratylenchus spp. and other economically important nematodes affecting agricultural crops. Her work combines ecological, molecular, and biochemical approaches to investigate plant–nematode–microbe interactions and to identify innovative alternatives to chemical nematicides, aligned with European priorities for reducing pesticide use and food security. She is currently a collaborator member of CFE. Over more than two decades of research, she has participated in 12 national and 3 international research projects, including serving as Principal Investigator of an FCT-funded project KnowLuci (PTDC/ASP-PLA/31946/2017), focused on the emerging root-knot nematode Meloidogyne luci. Her scientific contributions include 31 peer-reviewed publications, 10 articles in national, online, international magazines/newspapers/bulletins, 5 book chapters, and numerous conference presentations. Other activities include graduate/postgraduate and PhD supervision, teaching, and regular participation in science dissemination activities. Her work aims to advance innovative biological solutions for nematode management, contributing to increasing scientific knowledge about these impressive organisms and building resilient agricultural systems and sustainable crop protection.