I finished my PhD in September 2012 (CCMAR, Algarve University). One week after finishing my PhD I travelled to Rhodes Island (USA) where I got a postdoc fellowship to investigate the climate-driven impacts on the formation and persistence of macroalgal blooms for one year in Professor Carol Thornber lab in a collaboration between the University of Rhodes Island (URI) and Salve Regina University (SRU). After that one year, I was invited to join as Adjunct Professor of Introductory Ecology (BIO 262) which I had the chance to lecturer for one semester (until February 2014). In February 2014 I was back in Portugal to start working again in CCMAR. In the first 2,5 years I filled out research technician positions although assuming postdoc functions and carrying different projects on. In 2016 I was invited by Prof. Gerard Muyzer (University of Amsterdam, IBED, Department of Aquatic Microbiology- with whom I have been collaborating) to spend 3 months learning several microbiology related bioinformatic tools with his team in top bioinformatics facilities. Since 2017 I am a FCT postdoc fellow in the Marine Microbial Ecology & Biotechnology group at CCMAR, developing my proposal, until present (this period included a 9-month career break for high-risk pregnancy and maternity leaves in 2018). My research interest lay on the interactions between marine macrophytes hosts (mainly seaweeds and seagrasses) and their associated bacteria. Through the holobiont study I want to understand how associated bacteria can bring advantage to the host by possibly buffering rapid environmental/habitat changes through a more rapid adaptive response. These interactions are studied in the context of marine invasions by exploring how the synergies between the host and associated bacteria promote the adaptation of the host to the new environment/habitat and its capacity to outcompete native organisms. These findings are extrapolated to the current ongoing climate change to better understand and predict how marine macrophytes will cope with these drastic environmental shifts. During the past years, I have been part of several projects in which I am the researcher responsible for every microbial ecology/holobiont/metagenomics task (see "Projects" tab). As a result of my work, I have established a vast national and international network which granted me with invitations to participate in different projects as an external collaborator. In the last years, due to the similarity between the informatic tools, I have also been involved in eDNA research projects in CCMAR and developping new tools in our Institute. I was, then, invited to be part of new projects, recently approved, and I am the researcher responsible for the eDNA tasks (see the "Projects" tab). I have authored/co-authored 27 scientific publications including 1 book chapter, 1 thesis dissertation, 3 conference papers and 22 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed International Journals (plus 1 under-Review) with over 460 citations (H-index = 14). I have contributed to training the next generation of scientists, supervising 5 BSc students and, 6 MSc from different Universities. I have participated in 2 Ph.D. Committees and I have performed reviews of papers for 13 SCI-indexed journals and acted as peer reviewer of projects for GS-STAR Research and Innovation Grants, DFG and CIVIS3i.