Matthew Owen Moreira (0A15-F7B5-7837)

Curriculum Vitae

Matthew Owen Moreira

I graduated in Biology (2014) and did a MSc in Applied Ecology (2016) at the University of Aveiro. I was awarded with a merit-based grant by the University of Aveiro regarding my second year as a master's student, where I focused on identifying a link between climatic-niche evolution and speciation in a family of lizards (Squamata: Lacertidae). In 2018 I started a joint PhD at the University of Aveiro, University of Lisbon and University of Arizona (USA). My PhD (2023) aimed at identifying different factors that could be related to species diversity and what are the mechanisms underlying these same patterns, albeit at a larger temporal and taxonomic scale with some of my research questions expanding to all tetrapods. Currently I am a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Associação BIOPOLIS under the project PLACES - PLAnning for the Conservation of life on Earth in the light of evolution and Sustainability", where I am focused on understanding how intraspecific genetic diversity is generally distributed across species ranges. My main interests are in evolutionary ecology, macroevolution and global change, focusing on evolutionary trends, taxonomic diversity and diversity dynamics in vertebrates. Overall, I am passionate about identifying general evolutionary patterns that may apply to all organisms. I am the first author of five publications in international peer-reviewed journals and co-author in one. In my curriculum vitae you will also find that I have several oral and poster communications in national and international conferences/seminars, as well as my ability to attract international funds. I have been actively engaged in the dissemination of my research and in the organisation of several outreach activities such as a national congress, two international seminars, an advanced course in "Phylogenies in ecology and evolution", and a research topic for Frontiers. I have also been engaged in providing content for several media outlets including one local newsletter and a scientific column for my department, as well as my expert opinion on asexual reproduction for an international news journal. Despite my research focus, from 2022 to 2024 I have also been involved in the academia as a student evaluator for the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education – A3ES, and participated in STEAM activities by engaging local schools in scientific workshops. KEYWORDS: diversification; species richness; trait evolution; climatic niche; phylogenetic comparative methods; global change; vertebrates.

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Matthew Owen Moreira

Citation names

Moreira, M. O.
Moreira, M.
M. O. Moreira

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: 0A15-F7B5-7837
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8252-7804
Google Scholar ID: https://scholar.google.pt/matthewmoreira
Researcher Id: L-4778-2018
Scopus Author Id: 57203727976

Knowledge fields

Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Evolutionary Biology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Ecology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biodiversity Conservation

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English	Advanced (C1)	Proficiency (C2)	Advanced (C1)	Proficiency (C2)	Advanced (C1)
Spanish; Castilian	Beginner (A1)	Intermediate (B1)	Beginner (A1)	Beginner (A1)	Beginner (A1)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2018/01/01 - 2023/03/31 Concluded	Biology and Ecology of Global Changes (Doutoramento) Major in Biology of the Genome and Evolution Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal Universidade de Aveiro Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal The University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, United States "Trait evolution, climatic-niche change and diversification in lizards and snakes" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	Approved unanimously (distinction and merit)
2019/02/26 - 2019/02/28 Concluded	Functional Morphology: Evolution of Form and Function from Individuals to Species (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
2018/11/26 - 2018/11/28 Concluded	Phylogenetic Comparative Methods for Studying Diversification and Phenotypic Evolution (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
2018/07/02 - 2018/07/06 Concluded	Theoretical Perspectives on Biodiversity and Biogeography (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
2018/06/18 - 2018/06/22 Concluded	Ecological Niche Modelling From Theory to Practice (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
2018/04/23 - 2018/04/27 Concluded	Modelling Spatial Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics and Species (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
2016/07/21 Concluded	Applied Ecology (Mestrado integrado) Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal "Effects of climatic niche evolution on the speciation of lacertids (Squamata: Lacertidae)." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	19/20
2016/06/27 - 2016/07/01 Concluded	Methods in Evolutionary Ecology and Macroevolution (MEEM) (Especialização pós-licenciatura) Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal
2014/06/27 Concluded	Biology (Licenciatura) Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal "Pelophylax perezi – Immunological properties of the secretions, possible symbionts and ecotoxicity of an emerging compound." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	17/20

Affiliation

Science

	Category Host institution	Employer
2023/12/01 - 2025/11/30	Postdoc (Research)	Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
	Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
2022/10/01 - 2023/03/31	Researcher (Research)	Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal
	Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal
2021/11/30 - 2021/12/16	Visiting Researcher (Research)	Pontificia Universidad Javeriana - Cali, Colombia

2019/04/10 - 2019/10/10	Visiting Researcher (Research)	The University of Arizona, United States

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2022/09/08 - 2023/11/30	STEAM education	Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
	Fábrica Centro Ciência Viva de Aveiro, Portugal
2021/04/13 - 2023/02	A3ES student evaluator	Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2022/10/01 - 2023/03/31	Climatic niche change, diversification and habitat suitability in scaled reptiles BI/UI88/8930/2022 Research Fellow Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal	Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia Concluded
2022/05/16 - 2022/05/20	Advanced course in "Phylogenies in ecology and evolution" FSP-P005332 Organising committee and lecturer Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal The University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, United States Universidade de Aveiro Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal	Fulbright Portugal Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia Concluded
2018/01/01 - 2022/04/30	Trait evolution, climatic-niche change and diversification in lizards and snakes PD/BD/135554/2018 COVID/BD/152533/2022 PhD Student Fellow Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal Universidade de Aveiro Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal The University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, United States	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded
2021/11/29 - 2021/12/16	Academic mobility between partner institutions NA AUIP Mobility Scholar Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal Pontificia Universidad Javeriana - Cali, Colombia	Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Postgrado Concluded

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2021/01/01 - 2025/12/31	Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (InBIO) LA/P/0048/2020 10.54499/LA/P/0048/2020 Post-doc Fellow Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, Portugal Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing
2023/12/01 - 2025/11/30	PLAnning for the Conservation of life on Earth in the light of evolution and Sustainability 2022.08134.PTDC 10.54499/2022.08134.PTDC Post-doc Fellow Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal The City College of New York, United States Universidade do Porto, Portugal The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences, United States Carleton University Department of Biology, Canada	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing
2020/01/01 - 2023/12/31	Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology UIDB/50027/2020 10.54499/UIDB/50027/2020 Post-doc Fellow Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, Portugal Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded
2020/01/01 - 2023/12/31	Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology UIDP/50027/2020 10.54499/UIDP/50027/2020 Post-doc Fellow Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, Portugal Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Tecnologias e Agroambiente, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded

Outputs

Publications

Conference poster	Moreira, M. O.; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "Projected climate-driven declines in suitable habitats for high-mountain lizards: implications for Afrotropical conservation". Paper presented in Trends in Biodiversity and Evolution – Ecology and Conservation in the Afrotropics, 2024. Moreira, M. O.; Y.-F. Qu; J. J. Wiens. "Large-scale evolution of body temperatures in land vertebrates". Paper presented in XVII National Meeting on Evolutionary Biology, 2021. Moreira, M. O.; J. J. Wiens; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "ES-sim-GLM, an improved trait-dependent diversification approach". Paper presented in VII Simposio Colombiano de Biologia Evolutiva, 2019. Moreira, M. O.; J. J. Wiens; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "Climatic niche evolution helps drive speciation in squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes)". Paper presented in I PhD Meeting in Biology and Ecology of Global Changes, 2019. Moreira, M. O.; S. Marques. "Growth and enzymatic effects in Pelophylax perezi tadpoles exposed to Indomethacin". Paper presented in XIII Iberian Congress of Herpetology, 2014.
Journal article	Moreira, M. O.; J. J. Wiens; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "Climatic-niche breadth, niche position, and speciation in lizards and snakes". Journal of Biogeography 51 6 (2024): 969-981. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14802. Published • 10.1111/jbi.14802 Moreira, M. O.; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "Potential persistence of high-mountain lizards". Ecological Research (2023): https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1703.12410. Published • 10.1111/1440-1703.12410 Moreira, M. O.; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "ES-sim-GLM, a Multiple Regression Trait-Dependent Diversification Approach". Evolutionary Biology 49 1 (2022): 92-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-021-09557-7. Published • 10.1007/s11692-021-09557-7 Moreira, M. O.; Y.-F. Qu; J. J. Wiens. "Large-scale evolution of body temperatures in land vertebrates". Evolution Letters 5 5 (2021): 484-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evl3.249. Open access • Published • 10.1002/evl3.249 Moreira, M. O.; C. Fonseca; D. Rojas. "Parthenogenesis is self-destructive for scaled reptiles". Biology Letters 17 5 (2021): http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0006. Published • 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0006 Rojas, D.; M. O. Moreira; M. J. Ramos Pereira; C. Fonseca; L. M. Dávalos. "Updated distribution maps for neotropical bats in the superfamily Noctilionoidea". Ecology 99 9 (2018): 2131-2131. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85052754777&partnerID=MN8TOARS. Published • 10.1002/ecy.2404
Newsletter article	Moreira, M. O.. "Snakes, lizards and amphisbaenians: exceptional organisms to study ecology and evolutionary biology", BIO-SÍNTESE - Boletim Informativo Nº24, 2023, https://www.ua.pt/file/77547.
Online resource	Moreira, M. O.. Virgin-births may compromise species lifespan in the long term: a tale from lizards and snakes. 2021. https://ecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/virgin-births-may-compromise-species-lifespan-in-the-long-term-a-tale-from-lizards-and-snakes.
Thesis / Dissertation	"Trait evolution, climatic-niche change and diversification in lizards and snakes". PhD, Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/38774. "Effects of climatic niche evolution on the speciation of lacertids (Squamata: Lacertidae)". Master, Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/18552.

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2024/12/19	Distribution of intraspecific diversity across species ranges: insights from herptiles in six global regions	XX National Meeting on Evolutionary Biology Associação Portuguesa de Biologia Evolutiva (Vila do Conde, Portugal)
2024/01/05	Taxonomic diversity across space and time	Regular Seminars in Ecology & Evolution BIOPOLIS-CIBIO (Portugal)
2022/05/04	Macroecology & macroevolution for solving ecological & evolutionary questions	UVS Talks Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2021/12/03	Large-scale evolution of body temperatures in land vertebrates	Webinar Seminario Permanente Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali (Cali, Colombia)
2021/12/01	Parthenogenesis is self-destructive for scaled reptiles	Webinar Students Biology Program Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali (Cali, Colombia)
2021/07/08	Climatic niche dynamics and diversification in scaled reptiles (Lepidosaura: Squamata)	Research Summit PhD pitch Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2020/12/16	Parthenogenesis is self-destructive for scaled reptiles	XVI National Meeting on Evolutionary Biology University of Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2020/06/25	Climatic niche dynamics and diversification in scaled reptiles (Lepidosaura: Squamata)	Research Summit PhD pitch Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2019/11/14	Climatic niche evolution helps drive speciation in squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes)	XV National Meeting on Evolutionary Biology CIBIO-InBIO (Porto, Portugal)

Event organisation

	Event name Type of event (Role)	Institution / Organization
2016/09/01 - 2016/12/16	XII national meeting on evolutionary biology (ENBE) (2016/12/16 - 2016/12/16) Meeting (Member of the Organising Committee)	Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal Universidade de Aveiro Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal

Jury of academic degree

	Topic Role	Candidate name (Type of degree) Institution / Organization
2023/05/08	La historia biogeográfica de las ranas foliadas (Phyllomedusinae) (Thesis) Arguer	Valentina Vélez-Franco (Other) Pontificia Universidad Javeriana - Cali, Colombia

Course / Discipline taught

	Academic session	Degree Subject (Type)	Institution / Organization
2022/05/16 - 2022/05/20	Phylogenies in ecology and evolution	(Doutoramento)	Universidade de Aveiro Departamento de Biologia, Portugal Fulbright Portugal, Portugal The University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, United States
2018/10/01 - 2018/12/14	Advanced course in "Experimental sciences" at the Escola Básica de Santiago	Experimental sciences (Ensino básico 1º ciclo)	Instituto de Educação e Cidadania, Portugal

Evaluation committee

	Activity description Role	Institution / Organization	Funding entity
2022/04/21 - 2023/03/02	Evaluation of the study cycle in "Biology" (BSc) Evaluator	Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Portugal	Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior
2022/10/17 - 2023/02/08	Evaluation of the study cycle in "Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution" (PhD) Evaluator	Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal	Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

	Activity description	Newspaper / Forum
2023/06/10	Provided my expert opinion on asexual reproduction for 'Salon' after a crocodile in a Costa Rican zoo experienced facultative parthenogenesis.	Salon
2021/05/21	Interviewed by the University of Aveiro regarding the paper "Parthenogenesis is self-destructive for scaled reptiles" published in Biology Letters	Área de Notícias da Universidade de Aveiro

Journal scientific committee

	Journal title (ISSN)	Publisher
2024/01/25 - 2024/10/23	Enhancing Tropical Herpetofauna Knowledge Through Community Engagement	Frontiers
2024/07/02 - 2024/07/26	Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society (2752-938X)	Oxford University Press
2023/08 - 2023/11	Global Ecology and Biogeography (1466-8238)	Wiley
2019/04 - 2019/04	Evolution (1558-5646)	Oxford University Press

Mentoring / Tutoring

	Topic	Student name
2024/07 - Current	Testing the contribution of chemical and acoustic communication in Brygoomantis (Mantellidae, Anura) diversification	Mafalda Restelli (PhD; 2022.11902.BD)
2024/01 - Current	Predictors of intraspecific diversity in herptiles using machine learning	Maria João Paúl (PhD; 2020.08664.BD)

Distinctions

Award

2020	Second-best short talk at the XVI National Meeting on Evolutionary Biology
2019	Second-best poster at the I PhD Meeting in Biology and Ecology of Global Changes
2016	Merit scholarship awarded by Public and Private Higher Education Institutions to students with exceptional performance
2016	Sports merit scholarship for obtaining the 3rd place in the University National Championships