Sofia Augusto Email & Phone Number

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisboa, Portugal

Porto, Portugal

Tarragona, Spain

Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development (IEF)

Monitoring PCDD/Fs and metals in the surroundings of a cement manufacturing plant with co-incineration of hazardous waste, assessing ecological impacts, human exposure and health risks.

Main duties:• Using living organisms to assess pollution levels in air and water.• Comparing the use of living organisms with physicochemical methods, such as collection of air (through active samplers, using filters and PUF system), water and soil samples.• Assessing pollutants in water streams using aquatic mosses as biomonitors • Creating and adapting existing protocols to extract PAHs from food samples and analysing PAHs through GCMS and HPLC.• Improving the use of lichens to monitor radionuclides.• Performing human health risk analyses regarding human exposure to pollutants.Key Projects:• Awarded with a competitive PhD fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.• Developing a biomonitoring tool, based on lichens and aquatic mosses, to achieve terrestrial and water pollution by PCDD/Fs and PAHs.• Creating a set of guidelines to be followed when using biomonitors to achieve pollution by POPs.• Integrating the scientific team of the project “GISA-Integrated Management of Environment and Health” financed by the main industries of the major industrial polo of Portugal - PETROGAL, GALP, REPSOL, CARBOGAL, EDP, EURORESINAS, REN, etc.• Integrating the scientific team of the consulting project “Monitoring quality of urban streams of Oeiras Municipality”, financed by Oeiras Municipality, Portugal.• Attending the internship “Pollution and Health”, ERG, King’s College, London, UK (3 months) whose aim was to assess human cancer risk due to exposure to PAHs and other pollutants of populations living close to industrial areas.• Attending the internship “Spatial Analysis for Public Health Applications”, School of Engineering (IST), Lisbon, Portugal (168h), whose aim was to create spatial health risk maps for human exposure to pollutants.• Attending conferences and meetings.• Writing reports and publishing scientific articles in peer-reviewed magazines.

Barcarena, Portugal

Delivering lectures of the subjects: Biomedical Sciences, Biology, Environmental and Food Technology, Environment and Health, Food and Water Analyses.

Lisbon, Portugal

Main duties:• Planning and executing research experiments to test different environmental monitors (lichens, mosses, pine needles, soil, air samples, and food samples) to achieve pollution by PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PAHs, Ozone, BTX, metals and other pollutants.• Studying the influence of pollution on lichen biodiversity.• Planning and organizing field samplings.• Managing stocks and equipment of the Ecotoxicological Laboratory.• Preparing samples and performing chemical analyses of metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, both using flame and graphite furnace apparatus.• Performing ecotoxicological tests to achieve metal accumulation kinetics in lichens and evaluate their physiological impactKey projects:• Integrating the research team of the project “A technological framework to assess PAH atmospheric pollution and their impacts in biotic and abiotic compartments”, financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (POCTI/AMB/56120/2004);• Integrating the research team of the project “SINESBIOAR- Implementation of a multidisciplinary tool for evaluation and management of air quality and social impacts in the region of Sines”, financed by the European Commission (LIFE00 ENV/P/000830) and by private industries.• Integrating the research team of the project “Atmospheric pollution and management and conservation of forest ecosystems in Setubal peninsula”, financed by the European Commission (Life98 ENV/P/000556) and by private industries.• Establishing connections with the Portuguese Environmental Protection Agency (APA), developing projects executed in partnership. • Establishing connections with foreign consulting companies.• Attending conferences and meetings, presenting projects results.• Publishing scientific articles in peer-reviewed magazines.• Publishing articles in general magazines and newspapers.• Writing scientific and technical reports.

Phd, Biology (Expertise Ecology)

Thesis title: Developing a technology for biomonitor atmospheric deposition of POPs (persistent organic pollutants) and evaluation.

Licentiate Degree, Food Safety And Technology

Licentiate Degree (5 Year Degree), Applied Plant Biology