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Yasmina holds a pre-Bologna degree in Biology from the University of La Laguna - ULL (Canary Islands, Spain), a master's degree in Sustainable Management of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems from the Cádiz University (Spain), and a master's degree in Marine Biology from an International MSc Programme of the University of the Algarve (Portugal). Her professional journey began with the research group Bioecomac-ULL 'Cetaceans & Bioacoustics, in the Canary Islands'. From there, she expanded into sea turtle conservation projects in remote and challenging environments, including Cape Verde and the Galápagos Islands. After several short-term positions in the field of marine biology, she decided to return to academia. She spent six years as a research assistant at the IMAR/Okeanos Research Center (University of the Azores) from 2015 to 2020, where she focused on marine litter pollution. Currently (2021–2025), she is finishing her PhD in Marine Sciences, specializing in marine ecology, supported by an FRCT doctoral grant M3.1.a/F/022/2020). While she is involved in several studies on plastic pollution across various marine environments, including the open ocean, coastal zones, and the deep sea, her main research interest lies in plastic ingestion and entanglement in marine megafauna. Her work contributes to advancing scientific knowledge and aims to influence policy and initiatives to reduce plastic pollution and preserve marine biodiversity. She is an active member of various OSPAR expert groups on marine litter and supports the Regional Government of the Azores in reporting under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for the Azores subregion. At the national level, she collaborates with the Regional Government of the Azores, the National Marine Litter Working Group, and the MSFD Technical Group on Marine Litter (TG-ML).
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Yasmina Rodríguez
Date of birth
1986/02/28
Gender
Female

Citation names

  • Rodríguez, Yasmina
  • Rodríguez, Y

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
F016-4EFA-4EA6
ORCID iD
0000-0002-6910-3185
Scopus Author Id
57193026257

Email addresses

  • rodriguez.g.yasmina@gmail.com (Professional)
  • yasmina.mr.gonzalez@uac.pt (Professional)

Addresses

  • Rua Frederico machado 4, 9901-862, Horta, Faial, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Marine Biology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Spanish; Castilian (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Portuguese Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
Education
Degree Classification
2021/04/01 - 2025/03/31
Ongoing
 Doutoramento em Ciências do Mar. Especialidade de Ecologia Marinha. (Doutoramento)
Universidade dos Açores - Campus da Horta, Portugal
2020
Concluded
 Marine Biology (Mestrado)
Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
 16
2014
Concluded
 Máster propio en Gestión Sostenible de Sistemas Costeros y Marinos (Master)
Universidad de Cádiz, Spain
 18
2012
Concluded
 Pre-Bologna degree in Biology (Licence)
Major in Marine Biology
Universidad de La Laguna, Spain
 15
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2016/01/01 - 2021/03/31 Research Assistant (Research) Instituto do Mar, Portugal
Universidade dos Açores - Campus da Horta, Portugal
Projects

Contract

Designation Funders
2019 - 2021 IMPLAMAC - Impact assessment of microplastics and emergent pollutants in the Macaronesian coastline
MAC2/1.1a/265
Researcher
Universidade dos Açores Centro do IMAR, Portugal
 Interreg Europe
Ongoing
2017 - 2019 LIXAZ - Impacts of Marine Litter in the Azores
Acores-01-0145-FEDER-000053
Researcher
Universidade dos Açores Centro do IMAR, Portugal
 Secretaria Regional do Mar Ciência e Tecnologia
Concluded
2015 - 2016 AZORLIT - Establishing a baseline on marine litter in the Azores
P01495
Researcher
Universidade dos Açores Centro do IMAR, Portugal
 International Union for Conservation of Nature
Concluded

Other

Designation Funders
2019 - 2023 PLASTDEEP- Assessing PLASTic pollution in the DEEP sea, the ultimate sink of plastics in the oceans
ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000125
Researcher
Universidade dos Açores Centro do IMAR, Portugal
 Secretaria Regional do Mar Ciência e Tecnologia
Ongoing
2020/01 - 2020/10 Spectrometer for marine litter - Detection of marine Litter from Space. Funded by European Spatial Agency
ESA/DP/20191112
Investigador convidado
Universidade dos Açores Centro do IMAR, Portugal
 European Space Agency
Concluded
2017 - 2019 INDICIT - Implementation of the indicator; Impacts of marine litter on sea turtles and biota in RSC and MSFD areas
11.0661/2016/748064/SUB/ENV.C2
Researcher
Universidade dos Açores Centro do IMAR, Portugal
 European Commission
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Book chapter
  1. Sarah E. Nelms; Bethany L. Clark; Emily M. Duncan; Elitza Germanov; Brendan J. Godley; Kristian J. Parton; Christopher K. Pham; Yasmina Rodríguez. "Plastic Pollution and Marine Megafauna: Recent Advances and Future Directions". 2023.
    10.1142/9789811259111_0005
Conference abstract
  1. Ferreira, Tiago; Homem, Vera; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Herrera, Lucia; Pham, K. Christopher; Ratola, Nuno. Corresponding author: Ratola, Nuno. "Development of a method and analysis of levels of volatile methylsiloxanes in microplastics and sand from Azores beaches". Paper presented in ChemPor 2023 – 14th International Chemical and Biological Engineering Conference, Bragança, 2023.
    Published
Conference poster
  1. Peres dos Santos, Rui; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Richard Sears; Magno, Ramiro; Castilho, Rita. "Tour-operators as Key tool to Improve Information on Data Deficient Cetacean Species". Paper presented in Our Oceans, Our Future, 2023.
  2. Pham, K. Christopher; Rodrigues, Clara; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Frias, João Pedro Garcez Luís de; Rita Carriço; Sobral, Paula; Antunes, Joana. Corresponding author: Pham, K. Christopher. "Abundance and typology of microplastics in the beach sediments of the Azores Archipelago, NE Atlantic". Paper presented in 7th International Marine Debris Conference, 2022.
  3. Rodríguez, Yasmina; Duncan, E. M.,; Santos, M. R., .; Parra, H.,; Machete, M.,; Vandeperre, F.,; Pham, C. K. "Entwined in plastic: Investigating entanglements in marine litter of megafauna in the NE Atlantic". Paper presented in 7th International Marine Debris Conference in Busan, Republic of Korea, 2022.
  4. Rodríguez, Y.; Frias, J.P.G.L.; Carriço, R.; (...); Pham, CK. "Monitoring plastic ingestion in selected Azorean marine organisms". Paper presented in MICRO 2016, International Conference, 2016.
  5. Carriço, R.; Pham, C.K.; Rodríguez, Y.; Frias, J.P.G.L.; Dâmaso, C.. "Tackling marine litter: Awareness and Outreach in Faial Island, Azores". Paper presented in MICRO 2016, International Conference, 2016.
  6. Escánez, Alejandro; Tobeña, Marta; Rodríguez, Yasmina; López, Cataisa; Aguilar, Natacha. "Inter-island movements of botlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Canary Islands: Implications for the conservation and SACs design". Paper presented in 25th Conference of The European Cetacean Society, 2011.
Journal article
  1. Peres dos Santos, Rui; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Sears, Richard; Magno, Ramiro; Castilho, Rita. "Tour Operators as a Tool to Improve Information on Data-Deficient Cetacean Species". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 35 2 (2025): https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.70067.
    10.1002/aqc.70067
  2. Yasmina Rodríguez; Airam Rodríguez; João M. Pereira; Christopher K. Pham. "Plastics reset in an adult Procellariform seabird species during the breeding season". Marine Environmental Research (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106939.
    10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106939
  3. Rodrigues, Clara; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Frias, João; Carriço, Rita; Sobral, Paula; Antunes, Joana; Duncan, Emily M.; Pham, Christopher K.. "Microplastics in beach sediments of the Azores archipelago, NE Atlantic". Marine Pollution Bulletin 201 (2024): 116243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116243.
    10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116243
  4. Yasmina Rodríguez; Airam Rodríguez; Willem M.G.M. van Loon; João M. Pereira; João Frias; Emily M. Duncan; Sofia Garcia; et al. "Cory's shearwater as a key bioindicator for monitoring floating plastics". Environment International (2024): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108595.
    10.1016/j.envint.2024.108595
  5. Emily M. Duncan; Nina Vieira; José Manuel González-Irusta; Carlos Dominguez-Carrió; Telmo Morato; Marina Carreiro-Silva; Joachim Jakobsen; et al. "Predicting the distribution and abundance of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in the deep sea of the Azores (North Atlantic)". Science of The Total Environment (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166579.
    10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166579
  6. Christopher K. Pham; Sofia G. Estevez; João M. Pereira; Laura Herrera; Yasmina Rodríguez; Cristopher Domínguez-Hernández; Cristina Villanova-Solano; et al. "Three-dimensional evaluation of beaches of oceanic islands as reservoirs of plastic particles in the open ocean". Science of The Total Environment (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165798.
    10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165798
  7. Yasmina Rodríguez; Mónica A. Silva; Christopher K. Pham; Emily M. Duncan. "Cetaceans playing with single-use plastics (SUPs): A widespread interaction with likely severe impacts". Marine Pollution Bulletin (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115428.
    10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115428
  8. Gloria Fackelmann; Christopher K. Pham; Yasmina Rodríguez; Mark L. Mallory; Jennifer F. Provencher; Julia E. Baak; Simone Sommer. "Current levels of microplastic pollution impact wild seabird gut microbiomes". Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02013-z.
    10.1038/s41559-023-02013-z
  9. Yasmina Rodríguez; Frederic Vandeperre; Marco R. Santos; Laura Herrera; Hugo Parra; Ashok Deshpande; Karen A. Bjorndal; Christopher K. Pham. "Litter ingestion and entanglement in green turtles: An analysis of two decades of stranding events in the NE Atlantic". Environmental Pollution (2022): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118796.
    10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118796
  10. Miriam Cuesta-García; Airam Rodríguez; Ana Maria Martins; V. C. Neves; Magalhães, MC; Elizabeth Atchoi; Helder Fraga; et al. "Targeting efforts in rescue programmes mitigating light-induced seabird mortality: First the fat, then the skinny". Journal for Nature Conservation (2022): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126080.
    10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126080
  11. Rodríguez, Yasmina; Ressurreição, Adriana; Pham, Christopher K.. "Socio-economic impacts of marine litter for remote oceanic islands: The case of the Azores". Marine Pollution Bulletin 160 (2020): 111631. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111631.
    10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111631
  12. Pham, Christopher K.; Pereira, João M.; Frias, João P.G.L.; Ríos, Noelia; Carriço, Rita; Juliano, Manuela; Rodríguez, Yasmina. "Beaches of the Azores archipelago as transitory repositories for small plastic fragments floating in the North-East Atlantic". Environmental Pollution 263 (2020): 114494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114494.
    Published • 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114494
  13. Martins, Inês; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Pham, Christopher K.. "Trace elements in microplastics stranded on beaches of remote islands in the NE Atlantic". Marine Pollution Bulletin 156 (2020): 111270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111270.
    Published
  14. A. Herrera; E. Raymond; I. Martínez; S. Álvarez; J. Canning-Clode; I. Gestoso; C.K. Pham; et al. "First evaluation of neustonic microplastics in the Macaronesian region, NE Atlantic". Marine Pollution Bulletin 153 (2020): 110999-110999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110999.
    Published • 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110999
  15. Pereira, João Miguel; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Blasco, Sandra; Porter, Adam; Lewis, Ceri; Pham, K. Christopher. "Microplastic ingestion in open-ocean and deep-sea fishes of the Azores archipelago, North-East Atlantic". Environmental Pollution (2020):
    Accepted
  16. Rodríguez, Yasmina. "Data Collection on Marine Litter Ingestion in Sea Turtles and Thresholds for Good Environmental Status". Journal of Visualized Experiments 147 e59466 (2019): https://www.jove.com/video/59466/data-collection-on-marine-litter-ingestion-sea-turtles-thresholds-for.
    Published
  17. Ríos, Noelia; Frias, João P.G.L.; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Carriço, Rita; Garcia, Sofia M.; Juliano, Manuela; Pham, Christopher K.. "Spatio-temporal variability of beached macro-litter on remote islands of the North Atlantic". Marine Pollution Bulletin 133 (2018): 304-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.038.
    Published • 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.038
  18. Pham, Christopher K.; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Dauphin, Axelle; Carriço, Rita; Frias, João P.G.L.; Vandeperre, Frederic; Otero, Vanessa; et al. "Plastic ingestion in oceanic-stage loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) off the North Atlantic subtropical gyre". Marine Pollution Bulletin 121 1-2 (2017): 222-229. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.06.008.
    Published • 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.06.008
  19. Rodríguez, Yasmina; Pham, Christopher K.. "Marine litter on the seafloor of the Faial-Pico Passage, Azores Archipelago". Marine Pollution Bulletin 116 1-2 (2017): 448-453. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.018.
    Published • 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.018
  20. Tobeña, M; Escánez, A; Rodríguez, Y; López, C; Ritter, F; Aguilar, N. "Inter-island movements of common bottlenose dolphinsTursiops truncatusamong the Canary Islands: online catalogues and implications for conservation and management". African Journal of Marine Science 36 1 (2014): 137-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/1814232x.2013.873738.
    Published • 10.2989/1814232x.2013.873738

Other

Other output
  1. Sea turtles : University of Florida – University of the Azores connection 1984 – present. A review.. Arquipelago - Life and Marine Sciences. 2018. Martins, Helen R., Bjorndal, Karen A., Ferreira, R., Parra, H., Pham, C. K., Rodríguez, Y., Santos, M., et al..
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2024/09 Cory’s Shearwater as a Key Bioindicator of Plastic Contamination in NE Atlantic Hotspots of Marine Litter XVI International Seabird Group Conference
ECOTOP (Ecology and Conservation of Top Predators) from Coimbra University (Coimbra, Portugal)
2024/07 Investigating Persistent Organic Pollutants in Cory’s Shearwater: A Key Bioindicator to Monitor Plastics in the North Atlantic IX International Symposium on Marine Science (ISMS 2024)
(Valencia, Spain)
2024/06 Cory’s shearwater – marine litter bioindicator for region V Interssessional Correspondence Group on Marine Litter - ICG-ML (1) meeting
OSPAR Comission (Funchal (Madeira), Portugal)
2024/04 Cory’s shearwater as bioindicator for D10C3 and research in the Azores to support D10C4 Meeting Project LIFE SeaBil
SPEA - Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (Peniche, Portugal)
2023/03 Cory’s shearwaters as a key species to monitor oceanic plastics in hotspots of marine litter in the NE Atlantic Marlice Islands
(Spain)
2022/07 Entwined in plastic: Investigating entanglements in marine litter of megafauna in the NE Atlantic VIII International Symposium on Marine Science
(Spain)
2020/09 Investigação científica sobre poluição por lixo marinho no arquipélago dos Açores, Portugal II Fórum de Meio Ambiente e Economia Azul (Preservação, conservação e inovação social no ambiente marinho: Poluição Marinha)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9pAEip8cVE&ab_channel=AIRCentre (Governo do Estado da Bahía, Brazil)
2019/09 Cory´s shearwaters (Calonectris borealis); a potential bioindicator of plastic pollution in the Azores Archipelago CPLM-2º Conferencia do Lixo Marinho em Portugal
APLM-Associação do Lixo Marinho em Portugal (Setúbal, Portugal)
2019/04 Monitoring marine pollution by plastics in the Azores archipelago 5th High Level Industry, Science and Government Dialogue on the Atlantic Interactions
AirCentre (Lagos, Nigeria)
2018/11 Monitoring plastic pollution in the Azores Archipelago: from the surface down to the deep seafloor and in biota MICRO 2018, International Conference
(Lanzarote, Canarias, Spain)
2015/09 Long-term action to avoid cetacean captivity; children educational programmes at the school World Whale Conference & Whale Heritage Sites Summit 2015
WCA - World Cetacean Alliance (Açores, Portugal)

Ad Hoc journal article review

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2025/04 - 2025/04 Scientific Reports (2045-2322) Springer Nature
2024/07 - 2024/07 One Earth (2590-3322) Elsevier
2024/07 - 2024/07 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2024/06 - 2024/06 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2024/04 - 2024/04 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2024/03 - 2024/03 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (1573-2959) Springer Nature
2024/03 - 2024/03 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (1573-2959) Springer Nature
2023/05 - 2023/05 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2023 - 2023 Ocean and Coastal Research (2675-2824) Ins. Oceanográfico Uni. São Paulo
2022/02 - 2022/06 Environmental Pollution (1873-6424) Elsevier
2022/02 - 2022/03 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2022/01 - 2022/02 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2021/02 - 2021/03 Science of the Total Environment (1879-1026) Elsevier
2020/04 - 2020/05 Journal of Environmental Management (1095-8630) Elsevier

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2017 - Current Okeanos - Centro de Investigação da Universidade dos Açores Collaborator member of Christopher Pham's research team

Committee member

Activity description
Role 		Institution / Organization
2020 - 2022 ICG-ML Marine Litter OSPAR (Impacts on biota and Beach litter groups)
Member

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2024/04/03 Mais de 90% das crias de cagarro têm plásticos no estômago quando saem do ninho Público

Interview (tv / radio show)

Program Topic
2024 - 2024 Notícias do Atlântico Açores - RTP Açores https://acores.rtp.pt/local/portugal-e-espanha-vao-contar-com-cagarros-como-bioindicador-de-lixo-marinho/
2024 - 2024 Radio Televisión Canaria - RTVE Canarias https://x.com/RTVECanarias/status/1787846785857171850 ; https://rtvc.es/mas-del-90-de-las-crias-de-pardelas-de-canarias-tiene-plastico-en-el-estomago/
2019 - 2019 Grande Reportagem "Plástico Nosso de Cada Dia" (Prémio de Melhor Programa de Informação pela Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores) https://sicnoticias.pt/especiais/plastico-nosso-de-cada-dia/2020-10-16-Grande-Reportagem-Plastico-Nosso-de-Cada-Dia-distinguida-pela-Sociedade-Portuguesa-de-Autores
2019 - 2019 Rising of the setting sun - DOCUMENTARY (Best Film Festival dei Popoli 'Doc at Work Campus' and Gaia Student Award Nominee in BIFED Turkey) https://german-documentaries.de/en_EN/films/rising-of-the-setting-sun.13688