Catarina Jesus Pinho
PhD Student
I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP) in 2016. My MSc degree, in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution was also granted by FCUP in 2018. I developed my master thesis, at CIBIO-InBIO, entitled “Metabarcoding analysis of endemic lizards’ diet for guiding reserve management in Macaronesia Islands”. I gained experience working with non-invasive samples, metabarcoding techniques and next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods. With this project, I have developed a particular scientific interest in producing information to guide conservation measures for threatened species.
Currently, I'm a BIODIV student and my PhD focus on analyzing dietary and niche preferences of sympatric reptile species pairs of Cabo Verde Islands, testing additionally the possibility of character displacement driving speciation and subsequent morphological and ecological dissimilarities.
