Vanda Brotas is a Full Professor at DBV and a researcher at the MARE (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre). Her current research interests focus on Marine Ecology, particularly the ecology, function, and dynamics of phytoplankton; the remote sensing of ocean color; and the primary producers in estuarine ecosystems. She has taught courses from the first year of her undergraduate degree to her master’s degree, with a particular focus on Marine Ecology and Primary Production. She was Director of the Oceanography Centre from 2004 to 2006 and President of DBV from 2007 to 2009 and again from October 2014 to October 2017. She has been the coordinator, on the Portuguese side, of several international projects and the principal investigator of several national projects. She has studied estuaries, coastal lagoons, coastal areas, and the open ocean. She is the coordinator of the PhD in Marine Sciences at FCUL and co-coordinator of the PhD in Biology at the same institute.
Carolina Sá is responsible for Earth observation projects at the Portuguese Space Agency—Portugal Space. With a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from the University of Lisbon, she has dedicated herself to the field of satellite remote sensing to study microscopic aquatic plants (i.e., phytoplankton) from a different perspective: space. She specialized in satellite remote sensing systems for ocean color and worked as a researcher for over ten years, focusing on satellite data's validation and applications to promote and support the blue economy. She has been working at Portugal Space since 2019 and in the national delegation that follows the programs of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission in the area of Earth observation. Her current goal is to bridge the gap between Earth observation's research and applications, science and industry, technology, and society.
Ana C. Brito graduated with a Licenciatura in Environmental Biology (University of Lisbon—FCUL) in 2005 and received a PhD in Environmental Biology (Edinburgh Napier University) in 2010. Ana C. Brito worked as a Fellow at MARE—FCUL (FCT Post-doc Grant) from 2010–2013, a Research Fellow at Université Nantes in 2014, a Research Assistant at MARE—FCUL (FCT Investigator Programme) from 2014–2019, and a Research Assistant at MARE—FCUL (FCT CEEC Programme) from 2019–2022, and currently works as an Assistant Professor at the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences. Ana C. Brito’s research topics include biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, environmental risk, aquaculture and fisheries, technological tools for exploration and monitoring, governance, and literacy.
