SD made its graduation in Biology Applied to Terrestrial Animals (15 out of 20) in 2005, with the final work done on oophagous parasitoids of tomato fruit worm (scored 19 out of 20). Following this, she worked for Instituto Superior de Agronomia/UL on an AGRO project (until 2007) collecting and identifying arthropods in various vineyards and pome fruit regions under different production systems. This project ended in 2007 and then SD had some other smaller works in pest management area and finished her Master in Ecology (2010). She is author of 6 papers in the area of agronomic pest management. Until being contracted as a fellowship by LNEC in 2008, starting her career in termite management strategies and wood and other biomaterials biological degradation agents. There it was possible to participate in several projects, and finally started her PhD (symbiotic flagellate protist of subterranean termites) in 2014. During her PhD several collaborations were made, to enable the accomplishment of the objectives defined, for example with: NIBIO (Norway); University of the Azores; cE3c; University of Evora. The PhD was finished in 2018 with appraise and honour by unanimity. During this time she specialized in biological degradation of wood and other biomaterials, contributing to the definition of those materials biosusceptibility (4 papers) and in the area of termite biology, ecology and management (7 articles), namely on symbiotic flagellate protists community and the challenges posed by this research field, that could be overcome with a more collaborative approach (Duarte et al. 2018). After the PhD, LNEC offered a small project scholarship, which she accepted and performed the tasks defined, regarding wood biological degradation. After that, she dedicated herself to education area, regarding termites management theme, and later environmental education, as opportunities to be contracted (or even of having a post doc fellowship) in her scientific area were not available. In 2019 she was awarded a FCT project contract as a Junior researcher in ISA, on stored products insect pests where worked diligently for 3.5 years, despite challenges posed by the pandemic. The project yielded numerous publications, oral communications, and posters, showcasing the team's dedication and SD's pivotal role. After this, she returned to LNEC, supported by the recognition of her prior work's importance to LNEC's activities. She's resumed her work, taking on remaining projects and planning future research directions. While the transition between research areas impacted her publication output, it proved to be a valuable experience, testing her capabilities, and enhancing her networking and organizational skills.