Ana P. Coelho

I am an ecologist with a strong interest in bird communities and their interactions with the environment, particularly across tropical and arid ecosystems. During my MSc in Conservation Biology at the University of Lisbon, I studied how anthropogenic land-use changes impact avian seed dispersal in the tropical forests of São Tomé. I then carried out my PhD research at CESAM, where I studied migratory shorebirds wintering in the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau. My goal was to explore how prey availability, diet, and energy balance influence shorebird distributions and population trends, while also examining human-wildlife interactions related to shared use of intertidal resources.

I am currently a researcher at the BIODESERTS group (BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO), working on biodiversity assessments of bird communities across the arid landscapes of Saudi Arabia, contributing to the definition of conservation priorities and management strategies, while also supporting capacity building through hands-on training in bird sampling and monitoring techniques for local partners.