I am a Senior Research Associate at Okeanos – University of the Azores. I received my PhD in Biology from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) in 2007. I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at IMAR-Institute of Marine Research and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, USA), after which I was awarded several research contracts with IMAR and with the University of the Azores. I am a Guest Investigator at WHOI since 2014. Currently I lead the Azores Whale Lab – Cetacean Ecology group at Okeanos. At the core of our research lies an interest in animal behavioural decisions and understanding how these decisions are shaped by environmental, social, physiological, and anthropogenic factors, and how this in turn influences their response to environmental change and human-related pressures. As a member of the ICES Working Group on Marine Mammal Ecology (WGMME), OSPAR’s Marine Mammal Expert Group (OMMEG) and Intersessional Correspondence Group on Underwater Noise (OSPAR IGC-Noise), and MSFD Biodiversity Working Group, among others, I am also actively involved in ocean governance and policy development at international and national levels.