David Pires earned his BSc in Biology-Geology from the University of Minho in 2014 and his MSc in Ecology from the same university in 2016, specializing in Plant Nematology. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Évora, developing his project at the Nematology laboratory of the National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV, I.P.). He has over 6 years of experience in multidisciplinary R&D projects, including 3 months in an international context, having contributed to 2 EU-funded and 6 national projects. His current research focuses on the biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN), strongly emphasizing host-microbe interactions between PPN and nematophagous fungi. He's the author/co-author of 7 peer-reviewed papers (four as first author), 2 conference proceedings, 2 technical articles, 21 talks (presented 16, four as invited speaker), and 21 posters (presented 12). He supervised/co-supervised 3 BSc students to completion, and tutored 3 MSc students, 1 Senior Lab Technician, and 1 MSc Research Fellow, providing basic training in Nematology. He was a Guest Editor of 2 papers and peer-reviewed over 60 manuscripts for 32 journals. He was a member of the organizing committee of 7 events (1 conference, 4 seminars, and 2 workshops), a member of the scientific committee of 1 conference, and a volunteer at an international conference. He was a member of the Examination Board of 1 BSc student. He served as a Science Communications Assistant for an EU-funded project, where he implemented the strategic plan to disseminate outputs while overseeing content creation for the project's website and social media. Other of his accomplishments include: i) having been awarded Best Poster Presentation at an international conference; ii) having been appointed social media manager (Twitter/X) by the Governing Board of the European Society of Nematologists; iii) having been elected Student Representative on the Course Committee of the doctoral program in Biology at the University of Évora for the biennia 2022/2023 and 2024/2025. As part of his professional service commitments, he was appointed as a Board Member of the PhD Students' Association (Núcleo de Estudantes de Doutoramento), at the University of Évora. Amid the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he took a proactive role in co-founding Active Plant Nematologists, a group dedicated to enhancing communication and collaboration among nematologists worldwide. He quickly took this opportunity to establish international collaborations. His internationalization efforts have allowed him to collaborate with scientists from academia and industry across four continents.