Assistant Researcher at IPMA, I.P and and MARE (Marine and Environmetal Sciences Centre, Portugal). Expert and focal point of Portugal on the Benthic Habitats Expert Group (OBHEG) of the OSPAR Biodiversity Committee (COBAM), member of the Technical Group on Seabed Habitats and Sea-floor Integrity (TG Seabed) of the European Commission e member/national representant of several groups of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES): the Working Group on Introduction and Transfers of Marine Organisms (WGITMO), the Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors (WGBOSV), the Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), the Working Group on Biodiversity Science (WGBIODIV) e the Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG). During the last years of my academic and professional career I have developed my work in the interpretation and description of estuarine and marine biodiversity using integrative taxonomy, combining traditional and molecular taxonomy. The phylogenetic / phylogeographic and population genetics studies that I have been developing include the use of genetic markers (eg DNA barcodes) and bioinformatic resources. I have focused my work mainly on macrobenthic organisms and applied new technologies (eg Next-Generation Sequencing).