Catarina Fernandes

I completed my Bachelor's degree in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), where I developed a strong interest in ecology and conservation biology. After completing my degree, I decided to pursue a Master's degree in Biodiversity, Genetics, and Evolution, also at FCUP. My research interests focus on understanding how human activities affect wildlife and ecosystems, and I am particularly interested in studying tropical ecosystems. For my master's thesis, I am investigating the activity patterns and species-level responses of tropical insectivorous bats to land-use change in the Gulf of Guinea. By studying how bats respond to these human-driven changes, I hope to contribute to our understanding of how habitat loss and fragmentation impact biodiversity in tropical ecosystems.