Rita Isabel de Oliveira Soares Branco Domingues

I am a marine biologist with a diverse academic background, holding M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Ecology, as well as a B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Psychology. I have also completed two post-docs, in phytoplankton ecology and environmental psychology.

I like to call myself an experimental phytoplankton ecologist, with my research primarily focused on phytoplankton ecology in coastal ecosystems, particularly the Guadiana estuary and the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (southern Portugal).

My current research interests include:

effects of anthropogenic stressors, particularly eutrophication and river damming, on estuarine phytoplankton

tidal freshwater estuarine zones and the estuarine squeeze

methodological issues in experimental phytoplankton ecology

human dimensions of environmental problems

In terms of teaching, I lecture on Marine Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Advanced Methods in Biological Oceanography, and Marine Trophic Dynamics at both B.Sc. and M.Sc. levels. I am also actively involved in supervising M.Sc. and Ph.D. students.

Keywords: phytoplankton; eutrophication; HABs; dams; experimental approaches; coastal ecosystems