Manuela Parente, researcher with a contract for indefinite duration at the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Azores and CIBIO/InBio. She graduated in Biology in 1997 at the University of the Azores, completed her Master of Philosophy in 2002, and PhD in 2007, both at the University of Portsmouth. Her main research focuses on Marine Sciences, Phycology, and the Biodiversity and Evolution of macroalgae, combining traditional and molecular taxonomic techniques. More specifically, she has been investigating the phylogeny and evolution of brown algae, which resulted in several descriptions of new taxa for science. DNA Barcoding has been the molecular tool used to study the marine algal flora of Macaronesia and non-indigenous macroalgal and invertebrate species in the Azores and as particular groups of brown macroalgae from various locations around the globe, which has contributed to the revision of some families globally. National projects have supported these studies: MACROBIOMOL, which she coordinated, LusoMarBol, NIS-DNA, Mapping, and DNA barcoding the brown algal diversity in Norway. In recent years, she has broadened the scope of her work to other non-indigenous organisms (i.e., invertebrates) in the Azores through her participation in the European Marine SABRES, national NIS-DNA projects, the regional ASMAS, PIMA, MONIS and LIFEmNIS projects, and the regional program of Descriptor D2 - Marine Strategy Framework Directive as well as contributing to the annual reports of ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea). Manuela Parente has published 41 indexed and refereed articles and has an h 14/10 and a 741/381 citation index in Researchgate and SCOPUS, respectively. She won the First Prize from UBC (University of British Columbia) in 2007 in Japan. In addition to coordinating the FCT project on DNA barcoding of marine macroalgae (MACROBIOMOL), she was a member of 9 other projects (1 European, 1 international, 2 national and 7 regional). Since 1998, she has received 8 grants and 4 contracts, all in research. Co-organized the 2nd Conference of the European Consortium for the Barcode of Life (ECBOL) in 2010 and other scientific events (e.g., international workshop on DNA barcoding of marine organisms). She has participated in national and international forums where she has made several oral presentations, some as an invited speaker. She performed several scientific reviews of articles (e.g. Journal of Phycology, Phycological Research, Botanica Marina, Aquatic Botany). She has taught classes in Introduction to Biology, Invertebrates, Coastal Biology, and Molecular Biology Technique, and she is responsible for Genetics and Molecular Biology in a master's degree. She has developed extension activities not only at the national level with the publication of articles in regional newspapers but also in collaboration with schools. The most frequent terms used to contextualise her scientific, technological and artistic-cultural production are: Phycology; Taxonomy; Life cycles; Evolution; DNA Barcoding; Metabarcoding; Molecular Phylogeny; Marine Biodiversity and Non-Indigenous Marine Species.