Isabel Maria de Paiva Pinto Mendes

Isabel Mendes is a research assistant at CIMA. She holds a degree in Marine Biology (specialization: Marine Ecology) and a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences (specialization: Oceanography). During the last years, she has been dedicated to understanding the present and past environmental conditions that have occurred in the coastal areas of the southern Iberian Peninsula, at different temporal scales, in relation to climatic variability and anthropogenic impacts. She also contributes to the definition of climate change mitigation measures by evaluating the potential benefits and risks of increasing alkalinity in intertidal environments. 

The results of her work have been published in high-impact geoscience and micropaleontology journals and disseminated through several conference communications. She is Principal Investigator on one project and participates as a researcher in 14 other national and international projects. She has extensive experience in participating in fieldwork campaigns and oceanographic research cruises. Since 2019 she is an invited lecturer at the University of the Algarve in the field of climate change impacts and biogeochemistry, and since 2021 she is an elected member of the General Council of the University of the Algarve.

Paleoenvironmetal reconstruction, climate variability, environmental and human impacts, benthic foraminifera, climate action.