As a Senior Program Manager with the Gulbenkian Sustainability Program, my responsibilities included the following:(i) commissioning an organizing policy advocacy training for Portuguese environmental NGOs(ii) focal point for the Food Initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation(iii) commissioning and managing LEAP - Policy Development Initiative, a 10-month training program in policy research/development/advocacy for professionals in civil service, non-profit and academia(iv) keeping track of projects we support

I was a Program Officer at the Gulbenkian Oceans Initiative (http://www.gulbenkian.pt/oceanos). During that period, I was responsible for ENGO training activities, policy advocacy training for researchers, and ensuring follow-up of several projects commissioned/funded by the Gulbenkian Oceans Initiative.

I was a volunteer with the Ocean's Working Group of LPN. I was more active in issues related to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and helped prepare a statement by PONG-Pesca (a platform of Portuguese environmental NGOs on Fisheries) concerning the new Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union. I have contributed to our project on sustainable seafood consumption "Que Peixe Comer?"​, and led a project to establish Portugal's first community-supported fishery (www.cabazdopeixe.pt).From August 2011 to October 2012, I coordinated the Oceans WG and participated in behalf of LPN in the coordination of PONG-Pesca, the Platform of Portuguese NGOs on Fisheries.From September 2012 to December 2013, I co-supervised two master theses on Environmental Certification of Products of Artisanal Fisheries (by Ana Matias) in Portugal, and on Environmental Impact Assessment in the marine environment (by Flávia Guerra).

Assisting the President of the Intersectoral Oceanographic Commission, Prof. Mário Ruivo, with:- gathering and compiling positions from the Portuguese scientific community on requests from foreign research vessels to conduct research in Portuguese waters;- facilitating the assignment of Portuguese research vessel-time to the Portuguese scientific community;- facilitating the working group on research, monitoring and early warning on tsunamis;- participating in the Marine Board of the European Science Foundation.

My doctoral thesis analysed the potential creation of transboundary marine protected areas in East Africa. In particular, it was focused on the border regions between Mozambique and Tanzania and between Mozambique and South Africa. I developed my thesis within the context of the TRANSMAP project, in which I had worked for two years. The fieldwork experience gained during the TRANSMAP project was essential to conduct fieldwork just for my thesis, by myself, for 4 months.My supervisors were Prof. José Guerreiro (Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon) and Prof. Aldo Chircop (Dalhousie Law School; Marine and Environmental Law Institute).My thesis is available here: http://repositorio.ul.pt/handle/10451/4691

As part of my doctoral research, I was a Visiting Grad Student at Dalhousie University. Under the supervision of Prof. Aldo Chircop from the Schulich School of Law, I prepared and conducted fieldwork in East Africa to collect data for my doctoral thesis. I spent four months visiting four study sites and interviewing key informants in three countries (Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa). I am now processing field data and writing up my thesis for submission at the University of Lisbon (Portugal) by June 2011.

EGA - Environmental Governance Advisors is a small company incubated at ICAT. It provides consultancy services to project developers at the idea, project and post-project phases.EGA advises investors on the environmental and land planning limitations to their projects, and presents them with solutions to adapt their initial idea to ground restrictions, allowing them to save time and money by eliminating significantly the need to introduce changes to the project later down the road.EGA also coordinates EIA studies (project phase), and develops Environmental Management Systems and Quality Management Systems (post-project phase).

I worked as a "bolseira" of the TRANSMAP project, focusing on the governance research component. I have dealt mostly with the issues pertaining the creation of transboundary networks of MPAs in East Africa, which also implied regular trips to that region for info collection.