I graduated in Biology at University of Lisbon (Portugal) in 2000, completed a MSc in Conservation Biology at University of Évora (UE, Portugal) in 2005, and received my PhD in Biology from UE in 2010. Since then, my research activities were supported by 2 individual post-doctoral grants attributed by FCT, at ICAAM and CIBIO-UE, and a fixed-term contract as researcher at MED (Applied Ecology and Conservation group) under the Transitory Standard of DL57/2016. At present I have a further fixed-term contract under the CEECID as researcher in the same MED group. My primary goal is to conduct applied research in conservation biology that simultaneously addresses basic ecological questions. So far, my research has been largely focused on understanding the mechanisms ruling species persistence in spatially structured heterogeneous environments, using mostly, but not only, mammal species in fragmented farmland as model-systems. In particular, during the past years, I dedicated much of my research investigating the relationship between land-use change and population processes, integrating ideas from metapopulation theory, landscape ecology, and community ecology, focusing threatened voles in fragmented Mediterranean farmland. While most of my research has been empirically based, I also foster simulation-based approaches to predict complex ecological processes.