I did a Biology degree because I wanted to study elephants in Kenya. In 2003, at the University of Aveiro, I ended up studying diatoms in the mud! They migrate too, but in the vertical and only a few micrometers. From benthic diatoms, I moved to planktonic diatoms for my PhD thesis in Sheffield and Leipzig, where I investigated photoprotection mechanisms in this amazing algae. Later, during my first Post-Doc, at the University of Cambridge (2010-2011), a colleague presented a paper on photosynthetic sea slugs, and I got hooked. I found out my first lab at the University of Aveiro was doing research in that field, and came back home to join them in the challenging field of kleptoplasty in Sacoglossa sea slugs. I am now Principal Researcher at ECOMARE – Laboratory for Innovation and Sustainability of Marine Biological Resources of University of Aveiro & CESAM – Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, dedicated to research on a unique algae-animal association, for which I was awarded an ERC Starting Grant (2021-2026). Additionally, I never left my passion for algae ecophysiology and therefore continuously seek opportunities to develop research in algal-based biotechnology.

Keywords: PAM-fluorometry, photoprotection, Sacoglossa, algae, Bryopsidales, kleptoplasts