Mariana Oliveira e Castro obtained her Doctorate in Bioscience, with specialization in Ecology by the University of Coimbra in October 2018. She attained a Master's and a Degree in Biology in September 2011 and August 2009, respectively, at the same institute. Since 2009, she has been an integral member of the FLOWer Lab - Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Pollination Services, and Agroecology at the Centre for Functional Ecology from University of Coimbra, where she is the Flow Cytometry laboratory manager since 2019. As Flow Cytometry laboratory manager, Mariana has an extensive expertise in flow cytometric analyses using different plant species (from algae to flowering plants, e.g., Jasione spp., Gladiolus spp., Veronica spp., Rhododendron spp., Cactaceae spp., Asteraceae spp, Scrophulariaceae s.l. spp., Pentagramma spp., Porphyra spp.) and different plant tissues (including fresh and dry leaves, seeds, and petals). She published 41 ISI papers, with 34 focusing on polyploid resources, being co-author of a methodological paper endorsed by international experts, which delineates best practices for plant nuclei isolation for DNA content estimation. In the present, Mariana was responsible for the Flow Cytometry analyses of the "Finding Bermuda buttercup" initiative within the ConservePlants COST Action. She successful development a methodology to synthesize neotetraploids for wild plants. She has contributed three sections in books and the organization of three events. She participated in 20 events, supervised of one MSc dissertation, co-supervised one more, and guidance provided to students completing Degree in Biology. Mariana receipted two grants and three awards. Her interdisciplinary research spans Natural Sciences, with an emphasis on Evolutionary Biology, Reproductive Biology, Ecology, and Biodiversity Conservation, as well as Agrarian Sciences with a focus on Agriculture, collaborating with 208 researchers.