I am an early career researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences - Okeanos, University of the Azores, part of Azores Deep-Sea Research group (ADSR), and a research associate of the Smithsonian Institute - National Museum of Natural History. I started my scientific studies at the University of Porto, with a degree in Biochemistry (2006). Following this, I did three internships in different international settings - Brazil, Lisbon, and Madrid - where I developed skills in molecular biology, teamwork, and communication. In 2010, I moved to the Azores and initiated my career in Marine Sciences, focusing on the biology and ecology of hydrothermal mussels and cold-water corals. Later, I pursued a PhD at the University of the Azores, exploring the microbial ecology and chemosynthetic processes associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields in the Azores region. This research provided me with a good background in DNA sequencing, NGS data analysis, and marine (meta)genomics. In 2018, I completed my PhD in Marine Biology. Throughout my career, I've worked as a visiting researcher in different national institutions such as the NGS unit of UC-Biotech (Cantanhede), the Geosciences Department of Aveiro University, and CeteMares at MARE-IP Leiria (Peniche). Internationally, I collaborated with the Norstruct at the Arctic University of Norway (Tromsø) and, more recently, with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (Washington DC). Since January 2022, I have been leading a FCT research project as principal investigator, exploring the impact of ocean acidification on the microbiome of cold-water corals, with experiments conducted in aquaria. One of my current research interests is advancing the knowledge of biodiversity, especially related to deep-sea ecosystems, using new molecular-based tools to generate genetic data and improve species discovery methods.