Rita Mesquita de Magalhães obtained her master’s degree in veterinary medicine in 2024 from Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon. She is currently enrolled in the Biology PhD program at the University of Aveiro, researching alternatives for known antimicrobial drugs in marine compounds under a FCT grant. She also received a research grant for the development of her master’s dissertation project from 2022 to 2023 and a research grant holder at MARE – ISPA from 2023 to 2024, in a FCT founded project aiming to unveil potential antimicrobial compounds in fish venom. Has already published two articles as first author in specialized journals and has presented three posters, two of them in international conferences. During her curricular years, Rita was the treasurer at FAUNA, a student association that seeks to promote education on Wildlife Conservation and Exotic Species Medicine which allowed her to participate in the organization of several lectures and workshops, namely FAUNA's VIII International Conference. She also volunteered in two veterinary hospitals: CRASSA for wildlife medicine and Hospital Escolar Veterinário of Lisbon for companion and exotic animal medicine. After her curricular years, Rita had internships in a variety of veterinary medicine fields, such as scientific research in the scope of veterinary microbiology (Bacteriology Laboratory FMV/ULisboa) and aquarium (Vasco da Gama Aquarium) and wildlife medicine (GREFA Wildlife Conservation Center), the last one under the ERASMUS+ program.