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I am passionate about the power of data to improve the knowledge and conservation status of our planet's biodiversity. My current work aims to hamper our understanding of the mechanisms linking climate and biodiversity at the scales at which they effectively operate. I aspire to advance forecasting methodologies that aim to explain the effects of climate change at continental and centennial scales. I have expertise in data analytics, programming, biodiversity management, ecology, and evolution. I am also experienced at working in multidisciplinary environments, teaching, and supervision at undergraduate and graduate levels.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
ANA RITA PEREIRA DA SILVA
Date of birth
1993/06/01
Gender
Female

Citation names

  • da Silva, Rita

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
EC14-514D-2758
ORCID iD
0000-0001-9851-180X

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biodiversity Conservation
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Evolutionary Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biology
  • Natural sciences - Earth and Environmental Sciences - Water Resources
  • Natural sciences - Earth and Environmental Sciences - Oceanography

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
Spanish; Castilian Elementary (A2) Intermediate (B1) Beginner (A1) Intermediate (B1) Beginner (A1)
Danish Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1)
French Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1)
Education
Degree Classification
2016/08 - 2019/10/19
Concluded
 Natural Science, Biology, Evolutionary Biodemography (Doktor (PhD))
Major in Demography, Biology
Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
"Demographic data analyses enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable international trade in fish, corals, turtles and tortoises" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2014/09 - 2016/06/17
Concluded
 Environmental Biology (Master)
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
"Mind the Gap: Filling Demographic Knowledge Gaps with Zoo Data" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2011/09 - 2014/09/07
Concluded
 Ciências do Meio Aquático (Bachelor)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
"Fluoxetine effects in zebra fish embryos" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 15
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/09/01 - Current Postdoc (Research) Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
2019/09/10 - 2020/05/31 Postdoc (Research) Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2016/06/01 - 2016/06/01 Research Trainee (Research) Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2013/01/01 - 2014/07/17 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal

Teaching in Higher Education

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2020/06/01 - 2021/12/31 Assistant Professor (University Teacher) Syddansk Universitet, Denmark

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2016/09/01 - 2019/08/15 Collaborator Species360, United States
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2021/09/01 - Current Towards automatic acquisition, processing and management of complex biodiversity and environmental data in a changing world
2021.03268.CEECIND
Researcher
Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
2020/03 - Current Submerging into demography: a new perspective to inform the conservation of aquatic species
34439
Principal investigator
Villum Fonden, Denmark
 Villum Fonden
Ongoing
2019/12 - Current Submerging into demography: a new perspective to inform the conservation of aquatic species
grant.9607259
 Velux Fonden
2022/09 - 2028/08 Towards automatic acquisition, processing and management of complex biodiversity and environmental data in a changing world
7608EEC
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
2025/07/30 - 2027/01/30 Upwelling’s impact on thermal complexity and biodiversity distribution in NW Iberia
2024.06906.RESTART
Principal investigator
Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2023/03 - 2026/03 Interações biólogicas num mundo em mudança – como as florestas marinhas determinam biodiversidade ao longo de gradientes ambientais
175650PRJ
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
2022/05 - 2025/05 Rede colaborativa de longa duração para a monitorização de temperatura e biodiversidade no Atlântico
174735PRJ
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
2024/01/27 - 2025/01/25 Intertidal species identification: an automated approach
10.54499/CPCA-IAC/AF/594679/2023
Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)
Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Google Inc
Ongoing
2023/12 - 2024/12 Intertidal species identification: an automated approach
678067654573656747657047594679472023PCA
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Contract

Designation Funders
2022/09/01 - 2025/12/31 Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (InBIO)
LA/P/0048/2020
10.54499/LA/P/0048/2020
Researcher
Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal

Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2022/05/15 - 2025/05/14 Atlantic-wide long-term collaborative temperature and biodiversity observation network
PTDC/BIA-BMA/4848/2021
10.54499/PTDC/BIA-BMA/4848/2021
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Desporto, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal

Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade do Algarve Centro de Ciências do Mar, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2022/09/01 - 2023/12/31 Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
UIDB/50027/2020
10.54499/UIDB/50027/2020
Researcher
Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal

Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2022/09/01 - 2023/12/31 Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
UIDP/50027/2020
10.54499/UIDP/50027/2020
Researcher
Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal

Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Johanna Staerk; Dalia A. Conde; Rita da Silva; Lionel Jouvet. "Big cats in the International Trade - assessing the role of zoos and aquariums". 2018.
  2. da Silva, Rita. "Mind the gap: Filling Demographic Knowledge gaps with Zoo Data". Paper presented in Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG), 2017.
  3. Lionel Jouvet; Dalia A. Conde; Johanna Staerk; Rita da Silva; Chris Shepherd. "CITES Under the Lens of the IUCN Red List". 2017.
  4. Rita da Silva; Johanna Staerk; Dalia A. Conde. "Mind the Gap: Filling Demographic Knowledge Gaps with Zoo Data". 2017.
Journal article
  1. Cátia Monteiro; Mar Humet Caballero; Rita da Silva; Ana Luísa Sinde Araújo Torres Mano; Gabriela Borer de Oliveira Rodrigues; Hajer Bouraffa; João Ramalho Nunes; et al. "Results of BioMARatona 2024 (English version)". Zenodo (2025): https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.15921267.
    10.5281/ZENODO.15921267
  2. Pereira, Luís F.; Arenas, Francisco; Seabra, Rui; da Silva, Rita; Monteiro, Cátia; Pereira, Joana; Vale, Cândida G.; et al. "Simulated intertidal heat stress on the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum demonstrates differential population sensitivity to future climate". Journal of Ecology (2025): https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.70037.
    10.1111/1365-2745.70037
  3. Mar Humet; Rita da Silva; Rocío Nieto-Vilela; Cátia Monteiro. "Panfleto bioMARatona Norte S". Zenodo (2024): https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13144274.
    10.5281/ZENODO.13144274
  4. da Silva, Rita; Conde, Dalia A.; Baudisch, Annette; Colchero, Fernando. "Slow and negligible senescence among testudines challenges evolutionary theories of senescence". Science 376 6600 (2022): 1466-1470. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7811.
    10.1126/science.abl7811
  5. Colin, Luigi; Abed-Navandi, Daniel; Conde, Dalia A.; Craggs, Jamie; da Silva, Rita; Janse, Max; Källström, Björn; Pearce-Kelly, Alexander; Yesson, Chris. "What’s left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium’s coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach". Conservation Genetics Resources (2022): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12686-021-01250-3.
    10.1007/s12686-021-01250-3
  6. Jacqueline Juergens; Simon Bruslund; Johanna Stärk; Rikke Oegelund Nielsen; Chris R. Shepherd; Boyd Leupen; Kanitha Krishnasamy; et al. "A standardized dataset for conservation prioritization of songbirds to support CITES". Data in Brief 36 (2021): https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/8c6ba8fc-6ad6-4c5d-93b8-6ccc200a22c8.
    10.1016/j.dib.2021.107093
  7. Simon Kaae Andersen; Johanna Staerk; Elham Kalhor; Daniel J.D. Natusch; Rita da Silva; Beate Pfau; Dalia A. Conde. "Economics, life history and international trade data for seven turtle species in Indonesian and Malaysian farms". Data in Brief 34 (2021): https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/9af423c8-8891-4646-9df5-ba155261f74b.
    10.1016/j.dib.2020.106708
  8. Rikke Oegelund Nielsen; Rita da Silva; Jacqueline Juergens; Johanna Staerk; Line Lindholm Sørensen; John Jackson; Simeon Quirinus Smeele; Dalia A. Conde. "Standardized data to support conservation prioritization for sharks and batoids (Elasmobranchii)". Data in Brief 33 (2020): https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/2901a8c3-fcac-43c5-ac40-85b9f350f317.
    10.1016/j.dib.2020.106337
  9. Dalia A. Conde; Johanna Staerk; Fernando Colchero; Rita da Silva; Jonas Schöley; H. M. Baden; Lionel Jouvet; et al. "Data gaps and opportunities for comparative and conservation biology". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116 19 (2019): 9658–9664-9658–9664. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/1709c723-40e9-4c90-ab52-01304aed24d1.
    10.1073/pnas.1816367116
  10. Rita da Silva; Paul Pearce-Kelly; Brian Zimmerman; Meredith Knott; Wendy Foden; Dalia A. Conde. "Assessing the conservation potential of fish and corals in aquariums globally". Journal for Nature Conservation 48 (2019): 1-11. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/e6e20f9f-f633-40e3-addd-a4177abf9281.
    10.1016/j.jnc.2018.12.001
  11. Iglika Ilieva; Lionel Jouvet; Lars Seidelin; Benjamin D Best; Sofia Aldabet; Rita da Silva; Dalia A. Conde. "A global database of intentionally deployed wrecks to serve as artificial reefs". Data in Brief 23 (2019): https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/a85fe987-f772-48ae-bc27-31cb789c81d2.
    10.1016/j.dib.2018.12.023
  12. Rita da Silva; Dalia A. Conde. "Data on the conservation potential of fish and coral populations in aquariums". Data in Brief 22 (2019): 987-991. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/751cdc18-9f95-4160-a9b9-00603e40d5b3.
    10.1016/j.dib.2018.12.083
Online resource
  1. da Silva, Rita. Can Aquariums Save Corals?. 2017. https://www.species360.org/coral-reef-ebook-external-can-aquariums-save-corals-species360/.
Report
  1. Dalia Amor Conde Ovando; Johanna Stärk; Jacqueline Jürgens; Rikke Oegelund Nielsen; Rita da Silva. 2022. Songbird SKI Annex 1: Species Knowledge Initiative to Support CITES Decisions and Recommendations for Passeriformes. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/75e3c30e-7823-4ca6-b5c8-5da390536360.
  2. Dalia Amor Conde Ovando; Johanna Stärk; Jacqueline Jürgens; Rikke Oegelund Nielsen; Rita da Silva. 2022. Songbird SKI Summary. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/3b0fa358-873c-491b-9777-9e25771a037e.
  3. Johanna Staerk; Rita da Silva; Lionel Jouvet; Peter Paul van Dijk; Beate Pfau; Ioanna Alexiadou; Dalia A. Conde. 2019. Manual for the differentiation of captive-produced and wild-caught turtles and tortoises (Testudines). https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/ac0ab3dc-ea89-4838-863d-64e3416422e2.
  4. Johanna Staerk; Dalia A. Conde; Rita da Silva; Lionel Jouvet. 2018. CITES Animals Committee Doc. 13.1 Annex 3. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/3a27b8af-2d32-4e26-bd73-93f5fde47b6c.
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. SILVA, ANA. "Analyser af demografisk data er med til at forbedre bevarelsen af biodiversiteten samt at sikre bæredygtig international handel indenfor fisk, koraller, skildpadder og havskildpadder". 2019. https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/b42fdd97-3b1a-476b-a787-69c7cfb7f635.
Working paper
  1. da Silva, Rita. 2021. "Widespread evidence of negligible senescence among turtles and tortoises".
  2. da Silva, Rita. 2021. "The international commercial trade of live turtles and tortoises: exploring export patterns in captive-bred and wild-caught individuals".

Other

Other output
  1. Temperature and  biodiversity observation and citizen science. Democratizing Ocean Observations Through Low Cost Technologies and Citizen Science.. Presentation at AtlantOS Ocean Hour, online, by Fernando Lima.. 2023. Fernando Lima.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2022/02/04 The Conservation Potential of Captive Record-Keeping in Aquatic Species Master class
Givskud zoo (Givskud, Denmark)
2020/01/31 The power of data for conservation actions in turtles and tortoises International Cooperation on Species Protection with special focus on turtles and tortoises ("Frankfurt talks")
Senckenberg Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, German Association for Herpetology and Terraristic (Frankfurt, Germany)
2018/10/20 Investigating Patterns of International Wildlife Trade in ASAP Species Conservation Planning Specialist Group
Bangkok zoo (Bangkok, Thailand)
2018/10/16 Can Aquariums Save Corals? European Union of Aquarium Curators
The Deep, Hull (Hull, United Kingdom)
2017/12/12 Mind the Gap: Filling Demographic Knowledge Gaps with Zoo Data British Ecological Society
British Ecological Society (Liverpool, United Kingdom)
2017/01/08 Do Turtles Senesce Under Human Care ? Evolutionary Demography Society Conference
CNRS (Lyon, France)

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2024/03 - Current Identificação automática de espécies presentes em praias rochosas
Supervisor
Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2023/10 - Current Climate Resilience in Portuguese Tidepools: a Novel Thermal Buffer Study
Supervisor
Instituto Politécnico de Bragança Escola Superior Agrária, Portugal

Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
2019/06 - 2020/10 Zoos through the lens of CITES: Opportunities for zoos and aquariums to support species threatened by international trade: A case study for Elasmobranchi
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2019/01 - 2019/07 Zoos-aquariums through the lens of CITES, opportunities for zoos and aquariums to support species threatened by international trade: Sharks as a study case
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2018/06 - 2019/07 Maximizing the conservation value of zoo and aquarium populations: Assessing the alignment of species breeding programs with global prioritization schemes
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2018/06 - 2019/07 Prioritizing conservation actions for ASAP species
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2018/01 - 2018/06 Maximizing the conservation value of zoo and aquarium populations: Assessing the alignment of species breeding programs with global prioritization schemes
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2018/01 - 2018/06 Using demography to unveil laundering of species as “captive bred “ in the international trade
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2018/01 - 2018/06 Laundering of species as captive bred in the international markets:; a study case for three highly traded tortoises
Co-supervisor
Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2019/09/10 - 2020/05/31 Workshop: "Exploring the landscape of Sex Differences on Survival of Animals Under Human Care". We organised a meeting with several field experts on demography, trait analytics, sex differences, genetics, among others to discuss and plan research on sex differences, starting with more than 1500 species of birds and mammals. (2019/08/12 - 2019/08/17)
Conference (Co-organisor)
 Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2018/10/18 - 2018/10/21 Workshop entitled "Investigating patterns of international wildlife trade in ASAP species", part of a Conservation Planning Specialist Group Annual Meeting. Here, we organised a discussion and working groups with experts on the subject to develop best methodologies to tackle the issue of international trade in threatened endemic species. (2018/10/18 - 2018/10/21)
Conference (Co-organisor)
 Conservation Planning Specialist Group Annual Meeting, Thailand

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2020/02/03 - 2020/02/05 Conference on ecological and demographic studies
Conference
 Ecology in the Anthropocene
Nordic Society Oikos, Sweden
2017/01/06 - 2017/02/05 One month collaboration with a highly skilled research group to develop state-of-the-art methodologies and analytics for the study of sex differences in captive populations.
Other
 Research stay
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
2016/12/05 - 2016/12/09 Participation and poster presentation at, arguably, the most prestigious scientific organisation in data standards.
Conference
 TDWG Annual meeting
Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG), Costa Rica
2016/01/08 - 2016/01/31 Participated in several meetings and workshops, in Kuala Lumpur for about a month, dedicated to starting a strong and long-term collaboration with TRAFFIC (Wildlife Trade Specialists), WWF
Meeting
WWF - Malaysia, Malaysia

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2017 - Current Introduction to Biodemography (Bachelor) Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2017 - 2019 Biodiverity: Protection and Management (Master) Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
2016 - 2017 Terrestrial field course (Master) Biologisk Institut Syddansk Universitet, Denmark

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2020/01/24 Work featured at the hall of fame of Trinity University College, Dublin. Trinity University College
2019/07/01 Interview by BBC featuring a paper on intentionally deployed wrecks. BBC
2017/08/10 Interview to discuss the role of the university in a collaboration with the local terrarium in welcoming 80 tortoises from an illegal shipment. SDU Press
2017/03/27 Interview picked up by a few online issues of zoos and aquariums globally, featuring our work on the role of captive populations for the conservation of aquatic species. Species360

Interview (tv / radio show)

Program Topic
2017/08/10 - 2017/08/10 TV2 FYN. At this broadly watched tv channel in Denmark, I was interview to discuss my role as a scientist in the illegal international trade in turtles and tortoises. At this time, I was collaborating with a local terrarium that was just welcoming 80 individuals that had been seized in europe. International trade and the role of local institutions globally

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2018/01 - 2019/11 Data curation, management and analytics of a large database with long-term information of populations under human care Simeon Smeele
2017/06/01 - 2017/07/15 Mentoring and Supervision of 25 students divided across 4 groups during their bachelor final projects. Several students