Cariny Polesca is a PhD student in Chemical Engineering at CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Portugal, having been awarded first place (in a national competition) with a PhD grant from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). She worked as a Visiting PhD student at Imperial College London, United Kingdom, for six months, and at the Department of Chemical Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, for three months. C. Polesca completed her MSc in Chemical Engineering in 2020 at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Brazil, receiving the best cumulative performance coefficient among MSc students. Currently, C. Polesca works in sustainable industrial processes, emphasizing the valorisation of chicken feather waste for keratin recovery using ionic liquids (ILs) as alternative solvents. She has experience in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting experimental data and the capacity to project and carry out experiments to develop new products and processes. She also has experience in ILs synthesis (and its application) and the ability to deliver technical presentations to a range of audiences. Cariny Polesca published 11 scientific articles, including 3 critical reviews: 1 in Curr Opin Green Sustain Chem (IF=9.3) about the development of biomaterials using ILs and another one in Coatings Journal, receiving an award for the best manuscript by Coatings in 2021. She has published in high IF journals, namely Green Chemistry (IF=9.8). She has contributed to 1 book chapter and 35 oral and poster communications at national and international conferences. She received 4 awards for best communication at international conferences. Furthermore, she has industrial experience as a technique responsible in a water treatment company and internship experiences in the cosmetic and dairy industries. Cariny is also focused on improving her knowledge regarding industrial processes, having experience with 5S implementation, and certification in the Six Sigma Yellow Belt.