The Biodiversity Data Science team

We use cutting-edge Data Science tools, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big-data computational frameworks, to unravel the underlying mechanisms driving biodiversity. We work to understand and forecast global distribution and abundance patterns, ranging from genes to entire ecosystems, and from past climate fluctuations to future climate change scenarios.

Our analyses consider anthropogenic impacts, such as climate change, habitat degradation, overexploitation, and the introduction of invasive species. We share our data under the FAIR principle (easy to find, access and reuse) to citizens, managers, and policymakers so that they can make informed decisions on the best strategies for protecting, conserving, and managing biodiversity.


Core team members

Dr. Jorge Assis
Group leader
Eliza Fragkopoulou
Assistant researcher
Prof. Ester A. Serrão
Full professor
Dr. Lidiane Gouvea
Assistant researcher
Dr. Frederico Mestre
Assistant researcher
Kyle Cavanaugh
Visiting researcher
Juan González-Trujillo
Assistant researcher

Current students

Marcel Sayago
PhD student
Lauren Vapillon
PhD student
Amy Mackintosh
PhD student
Hannah Truter
PhD student
Megan Nolan
PhD student
Samuele Fanna
PhD candidate
Maria Arredondo
MSc student
Andrea Espinosa
MSc student
Polina Kravchenko
MSc student
Aidan Murray
MSc student

Past students

Griffin Hill
PhD student
Ariadni Vafeiadou
MSc student
Adriano Fossati
MSc student
Núria Suárez
MSc student
Lara Martins
MSc student
Viktória Balogh
MSc student
Laura Márquez
MSc student
Lara Martins
MSc student
Raquel Gaião
MSc student
Lessyn Kalwenya
MSc student

If you are interested in conducting your postdoc, PhD or MSc project in our team, we can discuss the possibility of helping secure your own funding. Please review available funding schemes (list below) and send us a one-page summary of your research idea, along with your CV. If you don’t have a clear research idea, have a look at our publications, and book a meeting with us.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), which is the national public agency that supports research in science, technology and innovation in all areas of knowledge;
European Research Council (ERC), which is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe;
”la Caixa” Foundation, which is committed to the present and future of people by focusing on those programmes with the greatest impact and capacity to transform.


Our recent projects

Most recent projects supporting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Biodiversity database of West Africa for stakeholders

A database structured under Darwin Core standards, offering a stable, straightforward and flexible framework for sharing b...

AI framework to predict global marine fish trophic interactions

This project is building the most comprehensive digital model of global marine fish trophic interactions.

MPA-Europe, designating Marine Protected Areas across Europe

MPA Europe will map the optimal locations for marine protected areas in European seas.


biodiversityDS.
Centre of Marine Sciences
Faro, Portugal