Vítor Silva is currently responsible for the team working in the Outreach and Community Relations Office, and he is also PhD student in Science Education and Dissemination; he has a Biology and Geology degree (2004) with a specialisation in Geology for Teaching. From 2017 to 2021, he served as a member of the General Council of the University of Porto. He is a co-author of some books about Biology and Geology targeted at secondary school students. He designed or helped to develop several actions of science communication directed to a young audience but also to the public at large. Since 2006 he has been the coordinator of U. Porto’s Junior University project, responsible for assembling the different activities that are proposed into coherent educational programs while also managing the webpage and database of the U.Jr., as well as evaluating the impact of the program, subject on which he has already presented several communications in national and international conferences. He was also a national coordinator of an H2020 European Project and has applied for other foundlings.

Currently I am PhD student at CIIMAR. After working in LEGE during my BSc and MSc in the identification and understanding of symbionts from marine organisms, I am now enrolled in the Sustainable animal nutrition and feed (SANFEED) doctoral program, from ICBAS-UP in partnership with FCT and Soja de Portugal. The main focus of research is the nutritional influence in of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiome from poultry for improvement of meat quality and animal welfare as well as human diet quality.

PhD in Biology at FCUP, Porto. Full Professor – Faculty of Sciences of Porto University and director of CIIMAR – Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research, Chief Strategy Officer – Agriculture – Fykia Biotech. Director of the Team of Blue Biotechnology and Health (BBE) of CIIMAR.
Main research: cyanobacteria secondary metabolites: toxins and molecules with biotechnological applications. Director of the LEGE culture collection comprising more than 2000 strains of cyanobacteria and microalgae. Published 490 papers in Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology. Coordinator of two H2020 projects: RISE and ERA Chair.
Director of the Doctoral Program in Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture (U Porto and U Minho).

Yihe Zhao is a Ph.D. candidate in Biology at CIIMAR Institute. He earned his Bachelor’s in Pharmaceutical Engineering from Tianjin University of Technology in 2016 and his Master’s in Molecular Biology and Evolution from Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel in 2018. His research is focused on molecular biology within the biological sciences. Yihe has studied genomics, transcriptomics, and bioinformatics extensively. His interests include comparative genomics, mining transcriptomic data, and applying bioinformatics techniques. He analyzes genomic and transcriptomic data to understand molecular mechanisms and explore gene modification and bioactive compounds. His research involves key areas like genomics, transcriptomics, gene modification, peptide expression, and Conus venom peptides. Yihe’s work helps to understand genetic variation and its functions, advancing related scientific fields. He aims to further explore genomic and transcriptomic applications in biomedicine and develop new solutions for disease research.

Yuri Costa is an Adjunct Professor at the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia, where he teaches subjects related to oceanography and environmental management. He has an undergraduate degree in oceanography, a master’s degree in ecology and biomonitoring, and a PhD in ecology, the latter dedicated to ecological modeling of the effects of climate change and sea level rise on the distribution of benthic marine invertebrates in estuaries. He has expertise in field data collection, conducting laboratory experiments and collaborating with traditional communities. Yuri is skilled in polychaete taxonomy. He also has experience in map construction and uses programming languages such as R and Python for data analysis and interpretation. His research covers critical issues related to marine ecology and the impacts of environmental change, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in this area.

Zaíra has a B.A. in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. During this period, much of the work was dedicated to environmental education, data collection, and internship experiences with sea turtles. She studies at the University of Porto for a master’s in Environmental Economics and Management. At the moment, the main research topics are Ecosystem Services from the blue forests of kelp.