Andreia Ovelheiro (AO) holds a degree in Marine Biology with a specialization in Marine Sciences (2012) and an MSc in Marine Biology (2016), both from the University of Algarve. She is currently an FCT-funded PhD student in the Marine, Earth and Environmental Sciences program at FCT-UAlg, specializing in marine science. At CCMAR, her PhD project, HIPPOBIOTA – Seahorses and their Microbiota as Bioindicators: Biochemical and Molecular Tools for Assessing Environmental Stressors and Promoting Species Sustainability, is an interdisciplinary proposal aimed at evaluating how key environmental parameters and anthropogenic impacts influence the physiology, survival, and microbial diversity of the increasingly threatened European seahorse species (Hippocampus guttulatus and H. hippocampus) in the Ria Formosa. Controlled rearing experiments combined with biochemical and molecular analyses will be integrated into qualitative and quantitative models to assess these impacts. She also holds DGAV and FELASA Category B certifications for the handling and experimental use of aquatic animals, obtained through the CAL-AQUA Laboratory Animal Science course. AO is the author of eleven peer-reviewed publications in international journals, including one as first author, and has delivered seventeen oral presentations at national and international scientific events. Her early academic work included a BSc project on nutrient and chlorophyll a exchanges in the Ria Formosa, presented at the 5th European Coastal Lagoon Symposium (2011). Her MSc dissertation focused on the temporal variability of nutrient and particulate matter exchanges in the Ria Formosa. During this period, she also volunteered in the chemical oceanography laboratory at the Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA), co-authored four oral presentations, and conducted experimental work with halophytes, resulting in a co-authored article and a conference presentation. As a research fellow at the University of Algarve and the Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR), AO played a significant role in the CRUSTAPANHA and BIOFISH projects. Her work focused on the sexual development (maturation scales) of crabs along the Portuguese coast and of fish from the Bons Sinais estuary (Mozambique). These contributions resulted in nine peer-reviewed publications (including one as first author) and eight oral presentations. She also participated in four nationally funded research projects, contributing to laboratory and fieldwork, the development of experimental protocols, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, field trip organization, fishing surveys, and the preparation of scientific outputs, including articles and technical reports. In 2023, AO joined the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) as a research fellow within the Blue Bioeconomy Innovation Pact – BIOBANK project. Her current research focuses on microbiology, particularly controlled assays of fish bacterial infections, bacterial culturing, biochemical identification, cryopreservation, and histopathological analysis. This work has resulted in six poster presentations at national and international conferences and the submission of a short communication. Her scientific interests include the reproductive biology and ecology of marine organisms, marine conservation, sustainable resource management, microbiology, and the impacts of climate change and environmental stressors on aquatic life. She is also engaged in applying statistical and biochemical tools, writing scientific articles, environmental education, and science communication.