João Miguel Pereira has started his PhD on microplastics pollution in the deep sea in March 2022. He previously worked as research assistant on marine litter pollution from 2018 to the end of 2022 at IMAR/OKEANOS Centre (Universidade dos Açores campus da Horta). He is the co-author of 4 scientific publications in this topic in indexed journals and has presented his work in three scientific conferences. He also developed practical and analytical work within various national and international projects (LIXAZ, INDICITII, PLASTDEEP, IMPLAMAC). He has a bachelor degree in Marine Biology (Universidade do Algarve) and an Erasmus mundus Masters in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.