Bio

Graduated in Biology and Environmental Sciences in Marseille, I specialized in Plant Ecology with a Master degree of the University Paris XI. With a PhD scholarship from the French Ministry of Research I studied the effect of climate on soil decomposition processes, for which I graduated in Plant Ecology from the University of Paris XI in 2000.

Pioneer in Portugal in the use of isotope tools in ecohydrology, I joined the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA, Lisbon) with a Marie-Curie post-doctoral fellowship for the study of Mediterranean ecosystems using stable isotopes. As a post-doctoral fellow, I was co-leader and PI of the European MIND project, on the effects of precipitation changes on Mediterranean ecosystems. Alongside, I was involved in numerous national and European projects involving Ecohydrology, Plant physiology and Forestry skills.

Since 2009, I am an independent researcher in the Geophysical Centre of Lisbon University in IDL. My work in the Climatology and Climate Change group is mainly devoted to the assessment of key hydrological drivers of the plant-soil-atmosphere continuum controlling responses of Mediterranean woody species to climate changes. The contribution of groundwater on Mediterranean forest’s water balance particularly captured my interest, especially at the regional scale using GIS and remote-sensing and since the present to the future.

I am currently the main investigator of the PIEZAGRO project (PTDC/AAG-REC/7046/2014), on the effect of the evolution of the piezometric level on the agroforestry sector in southern Portugal.

My contributions so far generated the publication of 26 articles in Q1 international ISI Journals and 4 refereed book chapters. My articles were cited over 1300 times so far, featuring a h-index of 17 or 18 according to ResearchGate and Google Academics, respectively.

Education

• 2000: PhD in the effect of climate on soil decomposition processes

Appointments

• Independent Researcher at IDL, University of Lisbon

• Main Investigator of the PIEZAGRO project