Mónica Almeida e Silva received a Biology degree (Licenciatura, 5 years) from the University of Lisbon (Portugal) in 1996 and a PhD in Biology from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) in 2007. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Marine Research (IMAR, Portugal) and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, USA). She is an Assistant Researcher at the University of the Azores, Institute of Marine Sciences – Okeanos, where she established and leads the Azores Whale Lab –Cetacean Ecology group. Mónica led (as PI, Co-PI, or workpackage leader) 20 research projects or service contracts, funded by EU (H2020, Biodiversa+, LIFE), EEA grants, FCT and FRCT, and was involved as team member in 13 other projects. She has successfully supervised/co-supervised 6 Postdoctoral Researchers, 5 PhD, 15 MSc, and 2 BSc students, and mentored over 40 internships and Research Assistants. Currently, she supervises 5 PhD and 2 MSc students, and 2 Research Assistants. She has published 99 papers in peer reviewed journals, 2 book chapters, co-edited a special volume in a scientific journal, 1 dissemination book and 2 book chapters, and >65 technical reports, in addition to contributions to technical reports by governmental and international organizations (e.g. ICES, OSPAR, IWC, IUCN). She has been invited to give >35 talks at conferences, symposia and meetings, and was Keynote Speaker at the 30th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society. Mónica has an h-index of 29 in the WoS Core Collection (90 publications indexed) and an h-index of 38 in Researchgate (99 publications indexed). MAS is a permanent member of the ICES Working Group on Marine Mammal Ecology, the OSPAR Commission Marine Mammal Expert Group and the Intersessional Correspondence Group on Underwater Noise, and of the National Working Group of Biodiversity of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Monica's research focuses on behavioural ecology, bioacoustics, spatial ecology and marine conservation. She is particularly interested in using cetaceans, , a group with highly developed cognitive capacities, complex social organizations, and high energetic demands, as a tractable system to address questions about how environmental, social, physiological, and anthropogenic factors shape top predator behavioural decisions, and how these decisions in turn influence predator’s responses to environmental changes and human-related pressures. My lab uses advanced technology and analytical approaches, as well as large network of international collaborations, to study aspects of cetacean ecology, ocean ecosystems and human activities, including passive and active acoustics, biotelemetry, molecular, biogeochemical, and modelling tools.