Patrícia Pinto

I am a PhD researcher in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, based at BIOPOLIS-CIBIO and a member of the InvasionS research group. My work explores how biodiversity, ecosystem condition and ecosystem services data can be used to support nature-related decision-making, particularly in business and across the Water–Food–Energy–Ecosystems Nexus.

Through my PhD, I have become particularly interested in how complex environmental information can be brought together, structured and made meaningful for those who need to use it. I am interested in the relationship between environmental knowledge and decision-making: how information can be connected, interpreted and communicated in ways that help different actors understand challenges, identify priorities and make better-informed decisions.

Alongside my research, I am deeply interested in making scientific knowledge accessible to different audiences and in creating opportunities for dialogue between research, stakeholders and society. Science communication and capacity-building are therefore an important part of how I approach my work, not simply as ways of disseminating research, but as ways of creating connections between knowledge, people and action.

My background in ecology and environmental management, together with experience in environmental data analysis, scientific communication and applied sustainability work, has shaped an interdisciplinary approach to research. I am particularly interested in the space where scientific knowledge meets real-world challenges, and in finding ways to connect ecological and socio-ecological information with the people, organisations and decisions that can give it practical meaning.