Meet the Team
Ana Filipa Sobral 🇵🇹
Principal Scientist and Founder
Ana’s love for nature, particularly the ocean, began at the young age of five. This led to her becoming a marine biologist and conservionist. In 2010, Ana traveled to Mozambique to be part of a whale shark and manta ray conservation project. It was here that her first encounter with a manta ray sparked her fascination with these animals.
In 2011, Ana pursued her old dream of moving to the Azores. Once there, she realised that this was one of the few places in the world where Sicklefin devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) gather in large groups and so, she founded Manta Catalog Azores. For over a decade, Ana has been collecting data on Mobulid rays with the help of dive operators and citizen scientists through this project.
Now a PhD candidate, Ana’s research focuses on the population genetics and connectivity of migratory elasmobranchs in oceanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Her goal is to fill knowledge gaps on elasmobranch biology and ecology to design effective conservation and management plans for protecting their populations in the remote North Atlantic Ocean region.
Alicia Rodríguez Juncá 🇪🇸
Project Leader and Co-founder - Canary Islands
Alicia is a PhD candidate at BIOECOMAC cetacean research group, Universidad de la Laguna (Canary Islands, Spain). She started Manta Catolog Canarias to gather information on the presence of mobulids in this archipelago and assess the potential connectivity between Canarias and other regions in Macaronesia.
In the past years Alicia has worked in several projects in the context of cetacean conservation in the Canary Islands. Currently, she is analyzing the interactions between artisanal fisheries and cetaceans, creating a baseline information to correctly inform management strategies and to mitigate negative effects.
Between projects, you will find Alicia in the water. Alicia is a Divemaster and skipper. She loves to go snorkeling and she is doing her first clumsy steps in surf. Do you have a plan that involves being in the water? She is in!
Carla Lourenço 🇵🇹
Communications Manager
Marine biologist by training and by heart. Ocean lover & advocate, part-time mermaid, conservationist and science-based Earth activist. Born at 354 ppm, Carla has >30 years experience in strolling along the seashore while looking for marine life. Passionate about communicating how the ocean shapes our lives and how each individual can make a difference in contributing to a healthy planet. Intense cocktail of creativity, problem-solving and zaniness; full of wit and sass. Better served on the rocks, she is on a mission to help save corals from functional extinction – and mantas too!
Joana Oliveira 🇵🇹
Communications Officer and Photo-ID team
Joana is a passionate Marine Biologist. Growing up by the beach, the ocean made its way into most of her early memories. She has always been curious about marine life, and is the happiest when in the water!
Throughout her undergraduate Biology studies, at the University of Lisbon, she was involved in different conservation and research projects and took her first steps into the marine field. By then, she started volunteering at Manta Catalog Azores and learning about Photo-ID and Citizen Science.
During her master’s in Marine Biological Resources (IMBRSea), she travelled almost as much as a Manta, moving to a different University every semester, but is now back home in Portugal.
Learning about how society can be involved in marine conservation and management has been her priority over the last couple of years and the focus of her MSc thesis project. In the future, she aims to continue to help bridge the gap between scientists and society!
You can find her by the ocean!
Chloe Flood 🇬🇧
Video content and Photo-ID team
Chloe is a marine conservationist and shark nerd!
Having grown up near the coast, the ocean has always been a huge part of her life. Whether it is cold water swimming (which is most of the year in England), snorkelling, a coastal walk, diving or attempting to surf, she spends most of her free time in or around the water. Just over a year ago, she moved to Plymouth in the South-West of the UK to study her dream course, MSc Marine Conservation. For her dissertation, she completed a research project, in partnership with the Shark Trust, focusing on marine conservation communications. Through this collaboration she was offered some incredible volunteer opportunities. Following on from her recent graduation, she has started her first role working within marine conservation and feels like she is living the dream – protecting our ocean and the amazing life in it!
With an undergraduate degree in multimedia journalism, she has been creating some of the video content for Manta Catalog, and will soon take her first steps into the world of photo-ID!
Inês Filipa Rodrigues 🇵🇹
Photo-ID team
Since she was a kid her primary drive was being near animals weather that was ants, sheep, dogs… you name it. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted her adult life to be surrounded by them. She did a Bachelor’s in biology at FCUL (Lisbon) and, driven by the desire of studying abroad, dove into her current MSc in Biology at WUR (Netherlands). You might be thinking… Biology twice? Couldn’t she specialize? The reality is that “Biology” has been the Umbrella term for her path in Ecology and Conservation but it is indeed as broad as her interests. Within these fields she focuses on both the Marine and Terrestrial realms.
Within the marine world she has a huge passion for Marine Mammals and Elasmobranchs (she insists mammals come first, we are working on it), with a “hidden love” for Cephalopods and Corals, as well as a splash of openness allowing other organisms to win over her heart as well. She believes a broader view might help connect dots yet to be understood, and that with knowledge in diverse fields her “toolbox” is constantly expanding and ready to be used in creative and interdisciplinary ways!
Her intrinsic will to be constantly involved in something meaningful drove her to join Manta Catalog in October 2019. Her hobbies are birdwatching (birds too? Yes..), wildlife photography, music, travelling and, of course, mobula photo-ID 😉
She aspires to help fill in the knowledge gaps in the biology and ecology of a very big range of taxa as well as the interactions between them and ultimately use that information towards their conservation. Her life is planned just enough to have enough room for the unexpected, while still keeping her feet on the ground as much, as possible, walking towards her goals and taking a few pictures along the way.
Nuno Vasco Rodrigues 🇵🇹
Conservation Photographer and Scientific Advisor
Nuno Vasco Rodrigues is a marine biologist with a master’s degree in integrated Ocean Studies. Throughout his career, Nuno worked in several leading institutions in the field of marine studies and conservation, has been involved in several conservation projects and has been part of many scientific expeditions, which gave a deep knowledge about ocean life. He is the author of dozens of scientific articles and three books on marine fauna, having contributed to many others.
As a photographer, he specialised in underwater photography, using the image as a study and communication tool, aiming at conservation. He contributes regularly to several institutions, namely National Geographic Portugal. His images have been widely published in books, newspapers and magazines and also exhibited globally, having several of them achieved awards in international competitions. Recently, he was considered the conservation photographer of the year 2021 for Ocean Geographic and achieved 2nd place in the photojournalism category.
Certified diver since 2000, he is an Assistant Instructor and has more than 1000 hours underwater in various places of the world, most of them studying and photographing marine life.