Ana Sofia Santos Gomes holds a degree in Marine Biology and Biotechnology and a Master degree in Aquaculture attributed by the School of Tourism and Marine Technology of the Polytechnic of Leiria. Ana was a Research Fellow under the Project MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0004: Ouriceira Aqua: Aquaculture and Enhancement of Gonad Production in the Sea Urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) at MARE-Polytechnic of Leiria. She conducted their research in species diversification, reproduction, and nutrition for aquaculture (mainly sea urchins and other echinoderms). Also, Ana was a Research Fellow under the Project ALG-01-0247-FEDER-069971 - ALLARVAE: New microalgae formulations for marine larviculture at CCMAR, University of Algarve. She conducted their research in microalgae cultivation and species identification. Ana has expertise in echinoderm larval rearing (experimental and pilot scale), microalgae cultivation, histological and biochemical analysis (including macronutrients and fatty acids determinations), DNA extraction, PCR and genetics. Her main research interests are the reproduction of species of low trophic level, invertebrates nutrition, impact of environmental factors in the species life cycle, transgenerational plasticity, trophic ecology, species conservation, molecular biology, genetics, science-policy interface and science communication. Ana is author and co-author of three scientific articles in peer review scientific journals ranked in the 1st and 2nd quartile for aquaculture and food sciences. She participated in 4th Aquaimprove Workshop at CIIMAR (Portugal) and international scientific conferences, with oral presentations and poster communications at Aquaculture Europe in 2017 and 2019. She has also participated in activities related to experimental science teaching involving young students, such as "Ocean Open Day - Semana Aberta Ciência e Tecnologia do Mar" and "XV Dia de BMB - Biologia Marinha e Biotecnologia".