My first steps in the scientific research were during my curricular internship while working with the bioactive potential of bacterial strains as well as with their phylogenies. During this year I became familiar with basic molecular approaches as DNA isolation and amplification. The field of conservation genetics became my main research interest when I enrolled the master in Biodiversity, genetics and evolution. As the classes were given at CIBIO-InBio I had the opportunity to interact with many researchers and became even more fascinated by this field. During my master thesis, I became familiarized with the metagenomic techniques and how it can be applied to recover valuable data for species conservation. Additionally, my interest in herpetofauna raised by knowing the wonderful Cabo Verdean reptile endemics. Therefore, my current research is focused on using the non-invasive metabarcoding approach in order to better understand ecological patterns by providing data to be applied in management plans of Cabo Verdean reptiles.