Bárbara Santos
Post-Doc Researcher
My general interests combine ecology, behavior, evolution and conservation but my main focus has been on herpetology, microbiology, biodiversity conservation and ecotoxicology.
After finishing the Biology degree in the University of Porto I did a MSc in the University of Aveiro focused on the effects of environmental pollution on amphibians, particularly in the developmental effects of the green frog Pelophylax perezi. After that I worked as a research assistant in several Ecotoxicology projects at the University of Aveiro using aquatic model organisms. The research mostly focused on assessing the effects of aquatic contaminants such as pesticides and environmental alterations (e.g. increase of salinity and temperature) in freshwater systems. During this time, I did a small collaboration with the University Federal of Bahia where I ran ecotoxicological tests with soil invertebrates and the University of Florence where I studied the effects of pesticides on Podarcis lizards.
During Phd, I focused on the characterization of the microbial diversity in several amphibian species from Portugal and Madagascar and how these symbiotic communities are affected by environmental features (habitat types and water quality) and biological and ecological parameters. My fieldwork experience covers several ecosystems in Portugal, Italy and Madagascar.
I also collaborated as a research assistant on several projects on the characterization of diet patterns in different groups of species (reptiles, amphibians, shorebirds, and marine fishes).
Currently, I am working as a Postdoc researcher on a project focusing on the assessment and characterization of desert fauna, and at the same time I am continuing to develop my previous work on the microbiome of herpetofauna.