???global.info.a_carregar???
Sara Bettencourt completed the Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry (2016), the Master's degree in Applied Biochemistry (2018) and the PhD in Social Sustainability and Development (2023). Now she is a researcher/science communicator. Sara's master's dissertation was inserted in the European project VOLATILE, being her work focused on lipid production using oleaginous yeasts and VFAs. Her PhD work was financed by 'Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia' and focused on marine litter, education for sustainable development, and macro-litter monitoring and perceptions evaluation. As part of her PhD, Sara gave over 100 lectures, organized beach clean-up actions, and other education and awareness-raising activities for marine litter. She also developed and launched in 2022 a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) about marine litter, with 200 enrolled people. An e-book about marine debris to support the course was created. She also performed functions as tutor of the 'European Virtual Seminar on Sustainable Development' during the academic year 2019-2020 and in the 'IVS-WaC' in the Spring semester of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. Sara enrolled in different online courses and was a member of the external evaluation committee of the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education. She is also a member of the General Assembly of 'SciComPt - Rede de Comunicação de Ciência e de Tecnologia de Portugal' since 2023. Sara's work is published in 6 papers. Additionally, work findings were exposed in oral (12) and poster (12) communications in different national and international scientific meetings, as first or co-author.
Read full resume ↓
Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Sara Bettencourt
Gender
Female

Citation names

  • Bettencourt, S.
  • Pereira, S.

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
1E1C-C48E-3DFD
ORCID iD
0000-0001-7632-4800
Google Scholar ID
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=pt-PT&user=XXCDRkAAAAAJ

Email addresses

  • sara.bettencourt@arditi.pt (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Microbiology
  • Engineering and Technology - Environmental Biotechnology
  • Natural sciences - Earth and Environmental Sciences - Environmental Sciences

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
French Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1) Beginner (A1)
Education
Degree Classification
2018/10 - 2023/07
Concluded
 Social Sustainability and Development (Doctoral Degree) (Doutoramento)
Universidade Aberta, Portugal
"Enhancing public awareness and stimulating co-responsibility for marine litter in Madeira Island: a case study" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 Approved with honor and distinction
2021/05/18 - 2021/06/02
Concluded
 Análise Estatística com SPSS: Nível I (Outros)
Associação Nacional de Ciências Biomédicas, Portugal
2021/04/06 - 2021/04/26
Concluded
 Comunicar Ciência Clara II - 20 horas (Outros)
Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Portugal
2020/04/20 - 2020/05/28
Attended
 Promoting Ocean Literacy and project-based learning by monitoring marine biodiversity - Massive Open Online Course (Outros)
VIRTUE-s, a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union 2017 - 2020 , Germany
2019/11 - 2020/05
Concluded
 Climate Change: from global to local Action - 12 ECTS (Curso médio)
Universidade Aberta, Portugal

Open Universiteit, Netherlands

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain
2019/05 - 2019/07
Attended
 UN Environment Massive Open Online Course on Marine Litter 2019 (40 hours, 1.5 EC) (Curso médio)
United Nations Environment Programme, Kenya

Open Universiteit, Netherlands
2019/04 - 2019/07
Attended
 Online Seminar ‘Participation and Environment’ (3 ECTS) (Curso médio)
FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany

Universidade Aberta, Portugal
2018 - 2018
Attended
 ‘Flow Cytometry: Fundamentals and Applications’ (7 hours, 0.7 UC) (Curso médio)
Ordem dos Biólogos, Portugal
2016 - 2018
Concluded
 Applied Biochemistry (Master Degree) (Mestrado)
Major in Biomedicine
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
"Oleaginous yeast selection for the production of lipidic compounds: development of an optimized fermentation protocol regarding nutrient requirements and growth conditions" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 19
2017 - 2017
Attended
 Host-fungus interactions and virulence (Curso médio)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2017 - 2017
Attended
 Cancer Therapy: from Basic Research to Clinic (Curso médio)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2017 - 2017
Concluded
 Course - ‘Formação Pedagógica Inicial de Formadores’ (CCP) - 90 hours (Curso médio)
GoldCoaching, Portugal
2016 - 2016
Attended
 Formation on Laboratory BSL3 Security (Outros)
Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e Saúde, Portugal
2013 - 2016
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Bachelor) (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
"Eficácia de um novo sistema de entrega de fármacos contra a infeção por Mycobacterium ulcerans" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 17
2014/08 - 2014/08
Attended
 First Aid Course (Curso médio)
Hospital Doutor Nélio Mendonça, Portugal
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2023 - Current Researcher (Research) Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
2019/11/01 - 2023 Researcher (Research) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Centro de Investigação em Ambiente e Sustentabilidade, Portugal
(...)
2019/07/01 - 2019/10/31 Science and Technology Management Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal
2017/09 - 2018/09 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
Projects

Other

Designation Funders
2020/03 - 2022/03/31 ALIMAR - Ação Lixo Marinho
FA_06_2017_081_
Researcher
Ministério do Mar
Concluded
2017/09 - 2018/11 VOLATILE - Biowaste derived volatile fatty acid platform for biopolymers, bioactive compounds and chemical building blocks
H2020-NMBP-BIO-2016
Other
European Commission
Outputs

Publications

Book
  1. Bettencourt, S.; Costa, Sónia; Caeiro, Sandra Sofia Ferreira da Silva. Lixo marinho: consciencializar para atuar. Portugal: Universidade Aberta. 2022.
    Published
Conference paper
  1. BETTENCOURT, S.; Pozdniakova, T.; Miranda, C.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.*. "Valorization of urban biowaste for the production of volatile fatty acids to be used in fermentation processes". Paper presented in 5th International Conference WASTES: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019.
Conference poster
  1. BETTENCOURT, S. *; Costa, Sónia; Caeiro, Sandra Sofia Ferreira da Silva. "Marine litter: the 21-century problem. Education for sustainability as a tool to act in a case study". Paper presented in 26th International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference (Budapest, Hungary), 2020.
  2. BETTENCOURT, S.; Tatiana, P.; Miranda, C.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Production of Fatty Acids by Oleaginous Yeasts: Overview of Fermentative Production and Lipidic Profile". Paper presented in Microbiotec’19 Congress, Coimbra, Portugal, 2019.
  3. BETTENCOURT, S.; Pozdniakova, T.; Miranda, C.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.*; Pais, C.. "Oleaginous yeast selection for the production of lipidic compounds: development of a fermentation protocol regarding nutrient requirements and growth conditions". Paper presented in 7th Conference on Physiology of Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi, Milan, Italy, 2019.
  4. BETTENCOURT, S.; Miranda, C.; Pozdniakova, T.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Volatile fatty acids as carbon source for single cell oil production by oleaginous yeasts". Paper presented in XXI Jornadas de Biologia de Leveduras "Professor Nicolau van Uden”, Braga, Portugal, 2018.
  5. Miranda, C.; BETTENCOURT, S.; Pozdniakova, T.; Machado, R.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "High-throughput screening of oleaginous yeasts by using innovative fluorimetric and spectroscopic approaches". Paper presented in XXI Jornadas de Biologia de Leveduras "Professor Nicolau van Uden”, Braga, Portugal, 2018.
  6. BETTENCOURT, S.; Miranda, C.; Pozdniakova, T.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Production of single cell oil by oleaginous yeasts: evaluation of the lipidic profile". Paper presented in IX Jornadas de Bioquímica, Braga, Portugal, 2018.
  7. Miranda, C.; BETTENCOURT, S.; Pozdniakova, T.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "High-throughput screening of oleaginous yeasts by using Nile red fluorescence method". Paper presented in IX Jornadas de Bioquímica, Braga, Portugal, 2018.
  8. BETTENCOURT, S.; Miranda, C.; Pozdniakova, T.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Single cell oil production by oleaginous yeasts: overview of fermentative production and lipidic profile". Paper presented in XI ENEBIOQ – Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Bioquímica, Porto, Portugal, 2018.
  9. Miranda, C.; BETTENCOURT, S.; Pozdniakova, T.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Selection of oleaginous yeasts: development of innovative screening methods using fluorimetric approaches". Paper presented in XI ENEBIOQ – Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Bioquímica - Porto, Portugal, 2018.
  10. Pozdniakova, T.; Miranda, C.; BETTENCOURT, S.; Rocha, R.; Sampaio, P.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Innovative approaches for the rapid screening of lipids producing yeasts". Paper presented in ECO-BIO 2018 Congress, Dublin, Ireland, 2018.
  11. BETTENCOURT, S.; Franco-Duarte, R.; Pais, C.. "Oleaginous yeast selection for the production of lipidic compounds". Paper presented in I Symposium on Applied Biochemistry, Braga, Portugal, 2017.
Journal article
  1. Bettencourt, Sara; Lucas, Carlos; Costa, Sónia; Caeiro, Sandra. "Monitoring marine litter on Funchal beaches (Madeira Island): Insights for litter management". Regional Studies in Marine Science 63 (2023): 102991. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2023.102991.
    Open access • Published • 10.1016/j.rsma.2023.102991
  2. Bettencourt, Sara; Freitas, Diogo Nuno; Lucas, Carlos; Costa, Sónia; Caeiro, Sandra. "Marine litter education: From awareness to action". Marine Pollution Bulletin 192 (2023): 114963. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114963.
    Open access • Published • 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114963
  3. Bettencourt, S.; Freitas, Diogo; Costa, Sónia; Caeiro, Sandra Sofia Ferreira da Silva. Corresponding author: Bettencourt, S.. "Public perceptions, knowledge, responsibilities, and behavior intentions on marine litter: Identifying profiles of small oceanic islands inhabitants". Ocean & Coastal Management 231 106406 (2023): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569122003829.
    Published • doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106406
  4. Bettencourt, Sara; Costa, Sónia; Caeiro, Sandra. "Marine litter: A review of educative interventions". Marine Pollution Bulletin 168 (2021): 112446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112446.
    Published • 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112446
  5. Bettencourt, Sara; Miranda, Catarina; Pozdniakova, Tatiana A.; Sampaio, Paula; Franco-Duarte, Ricardo; Pais, Célia. "Single Cell Oil Production by Oleaginous Yeasts Grown in Synthetic and Waste-Derived Volatile Fatty Acids". Microorganisms 8 11 (2020): 1809. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8111809.
    Published • 10.3390/microorganisms8111809
  6. Miranda, Catarina; BETTENCOURT, Sara *; Pozdniakova, Tatiana*; Pereira, Joana; Sampaio, Paula; Franco-Duarte, Ricardo; Pais, Célia. "Modified high-throughput Nile red fluorescence assay for the rapid screening of oleaginous yeasts using acetic acid as carbon source". BMC Microbiology 20 1 (2020): http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-01742-6.
    Open access • Published • 10.1186/s12866-020-01742-6
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2023/07/12 Raise awareness in day centers and senior universities communities about marine litter ISDRS 2023 Conference
((online), Malaysia)
2023/05/05 Lixo marinho - uma abordagem global para um problema local SciComPt 2023
(Portugal)
2022/11/03 Lixo Marinho: O problema e como atuar para a sua prevenção Assembleia de Investigadores N.º 172 de Investigadores do Centro de Investigação Professor Doutor Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão
https://cijvs.cm-santarem.pt/index.php/assembleia-de-investigadores/videos (Portugal)
2022/06/16 Marine litter: design, implementation, and evaluation of an educational intervention for young people to raise awareness and stimulate co-responsibility and sustainable behaviors ISDRS 2022 Conference
Södertörn University, Sweden (Stockholm, Sweden)
2022/06/08 Massive open online course to educate and raise awareness on marine litter e-Sustainability’22
Universidade Aberta (Lisbon, Portugal)
2022/05/23 Youngs acting as agents for marine litter prevention Seminar Water, Sustainability and Development ’22
(Online, Portugal)
2022/05/12 Lixo marinho – limpezas de praia como forma de consciencialização e co-responsabilização SciComPt 2022
(São Miguel - Azores, Portugal)
2021/11/15 Assessment of marine litter in a small island for development of educative interventions International Webinar on Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Technologies
2021/07/14 Madeiran public perceptions on marine litter: identifying gaps to design educational strategies 27th International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference
((online due to COVID-19), Sweden)
2021/07/02 Education for marine litter: interventions in schools e-Sustainability 21 - Desafios para o desenvolvimento sustentável
((online due to COVID-19), Portugal)
2020/06/20 The 21-century problem of marine litter: an overview of behavior change interventions Seminário DS20
Universidade Aberta (Online - COVID-19, Portugal)
2019/09/05 Valorization of urban biowaste for the production of volatile fatty acids to be used in fermentation processes 5th International Conference WASTES: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities
(Lisbon, Portugal)
2018/06/09 Volatile fatty acids as carbon source for single cell oil production by oleaginous yeasts XXI Jornadas de Biologia de Leveduras "Professor Nicolau van Uden”
(Braga, Portugal)
2018/06/09 High-throughput screening of oleaginous yeasts by using innovative fluorimetric and spectroscopic approaches XXI Jornadas de Biologia de Leveduras "Professor Nicolau van Uden”
(Braga, Portugal)

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2019/10/08 - 2019/10/09 Member of the ‘2nd International workshop on advanced materials for healthcare applications (IWAMHA)’ organizing committee. (2019/10/08 - 2019/10/09)
Workshop (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal
2019/07/14 - 2019/07/18 Member of the ‘11th International Dendrimer Symposium (IDS11)’ organizing committee. (2019/07/14 - 2019/07/18)
Symposium (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade da Madeira Centro de Química da Madeira, Portugal
2017 - 2017 Students’ chair of the ‘I Symposium on Applied Biochemistry’. (2017 - 2017)
Symposium (President of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2020/11/27 - 2020/11/27 Outreach Activity: Lixo marinho - Investigação e Sensibilização (Marine litter - Research and awareness)
Symposium
 MacaroNight - Macaronesia's Researchers' Night
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2019/11/22 - 2019/11/22 Collaboration in ‘Ciência no Mercado’, a science outreach event organized by Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação.
Exhibition
 Ciência no Mercado
Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
2019/01/04 - 2019/01/04 Participation in ‘Lixo Marinho - Problema Global vs Realidade Local’ conference.
Conference
 Conferência: Lixo Marinho - Problema Global vs Realidade Local
Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Recursos Naturais, Portugal
2018/12/05 - 2018/12/05 Frequency of ’Portal do Eurostat: Estatísticas da União Europeia’ formation (3 hours).
Other
Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Portugal
2018/11/29 - 2018/11/29 Frequency of ’Pesquisa de Informação Estatística no Portal de Estatísticas Oficiais do INE’ formation (3 hours).
Other
Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Portugal
2018/09/17 - 2018/09/17 Participation in 'International Microorganism Day'.
Other
 International Microorganism Day
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2018/05/22 - 2018/05/24 Participation in ‘Expobiotec 2018 - Feira de Biotecnologia’.
Conference
 Expobiotec 2018 - Feira de Biotecnologia
Universidade do Minho Centro de Engenharia Biológica, Portugal
2018/04 - 2018/04 Scientific demonstrations in ‘Ciência P'ra que te quero’, a science outreach event organized by Universidade do Minho and Biblioteca Lúcio Craveiro.
Workshop
 Ciência P'ra que te quero
2018/03/20 - 2018/03/20 Frequency of ‘Citometria de Fluxo: BD Accuri C6’ workshop.
Workshop
 Workshop em Citometria de Fluxo: BD Accuri C6
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2017/04/26 - 2017/04/26 Frequency of 'Mendeley - Gestor de referências bibliográficas' formation (3 hours).
Other
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2017/03/27 - 2017/03/27 Frequency of ‘Fontes e Pesquisa de Informação Científica Online’ formation (3 hours).
Other
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2016/05/10 - 2016/05/12 Scientific demonstrations in ‘Festa da Ciência’, a science outreach event organized by Universidade do Minho.
Workshop
 Festa da Ciência
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2016/03 - 2016/03 Participation in the workshop 'Bioempreendedorismo'.
Meeting
 IX Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Bioquímica
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2023 - 2026 SciComPt - Rede de Comunicação de Ciência e de Tecnologia de Portugal Member of the General Assembly

Committee member

Activity description
Role 		Institution / Organization
2022/03 - 2022/04 Member of the External Evaluation Committee (CAE) of Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior - A3ES (Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education). Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior, Portugal
2016/09 - 2018/07 Member of the Pedagogic Council of School of Sciences in Universidade do Minho. Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal
2016/09 - 2018/07 Chief of class of the Master in Applied Biochemistry. Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal

Consulting

Activity description Institution / Organization
2016 - 2016 Project consultant in 'Método de quantificação da atividade antioxidante em materiais diversos', from Centro de Nanotecnologia e Materiais Técnicos, Funcionais e Inteligentes (CeNTI). The work was developed under the 'iSci - Interface Ciência 2016' programme, an interface between Universidade do Minho and companies.

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2022 - 2023 International Virtual Seminar “Water and Climate” (IVS-WaC) - 'Marine Litter and Waste Management' topic (Master) Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany
2019/10 - 2020/04 Tutor of the 'European Virtual Seminar on Sustainable Development’ European Virtual Seminar on Sustainable Development Open Universiteit, Netherlands

Interview (tv / radio show)

Program Topic
2021/09/21 - 2021/09/21 RTP Madeira - Poluição nas praias Assessment of marine litter in Funchal beaches (minute 13)

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2022/04 - 2022/07 Lecturer and tutor in 'IVS-WaC: International Virtual Seminar - Water and Climate' Lecturer and tutor in 'IVS-WaC: International Virtual Seminar - Water and Climate'
2022/02 - 2022/03 MOOC creator and tutor - Lixo marinho- consciencializar para atuar ‘Lixo marinho – consciencializar para atuar’ - 40 hours
Distinctions

Award

2016 Excellence Scholarship
Universidade do Minho, Portugal