Team

Below you will find the description of our team composition, as well as details on their origins and areas of interest. Team members are shown based on the timing each member started to workt at LABCMA.

Marcos César de Oliveira Santos

I majored in biology at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in 1993, investing in a Masters (1999) and a Ph D (2004) in ecology at USP. I’ve been studying cetaceans since 1993 in the State of São Paulo (SSS), Brazil. Since 1995 I’ve been coordinating the Projeto Atlantis. From 2006 to 2010 I worked at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) in Rio Claro, where I kept working with cetaceans. In February 2011 I started working in the Instituto Oceanográfico – USP where I settled the Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação de Mamíferos Aquáticos (LABCMA). My interests are devoted towards conservation biology of whales and dolphins.

Diogo Destro Barcellos

I am biologist (graduated and licensed) by Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (2011) and took my Masters in 2014 working with cephalopods. In 2014 I joined to the LABCMA team to learn bioacoustics. I took a Ph.D. degree in 2018 using the Passive Acoustic Monitoring of cetaceans in Sao Sebastiao channel and Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta, both sites are located in the State of Sao Paulo.

Patrícia Coutinho Müller

I majored in Oceanography at the Instituto de Geociências from Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) in 2018. I joined the LABCMA in 2019 through the graduation program of Instituto Oceanográfico from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and my master's project aims to describe the acoustic repertoire of the Franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) in Estação Ecológica Tupinambás, northern coast of São Paulo, and evaluate how they use the area.

Isabela Rugitsky Domingues

I'm majoring in Biology at the Universidade de São Paulo and got enrolled with the LABCMA team in 2021. I'm working in a bachelor thesis to evaluate how science and actions were conducted in the past 20 years in order to protect the La Plata dolphin, which is threatened to extinction.

Past Researchers

Laura Campos

I majored in Oceanography in the Instituto Oceanográfico (IO), Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in 2015. I took part of the LABCMA team from 2013 to 2018. I conducted a study to evaluate the feeding habits of small cetaceans as my bachelor thesis, and in my master's project I using stable isotopes to better understand the trophic ecology and habitat use of two delphinid species in the southern coast of São Paulo state.

Victor Uber Paschoalini

I was member of LABCMA from 2014 to 2019. After majoring in Oceanography at the University of São Paulo (IOUSP) in 2017, I took my masters degree at the quoted lab. My research area was focused on stable isotopes analysis and trophic ecology of small cetaceans.

Rodrigo Avelaira Barbosa

I am a biologist graduated at Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Campus Rio Claro in 2007, with a master’s (2010) and a Ph.D. (2015) in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the same university. I have experience in histology, histochemistry and cell ultrastructure. From 2015 to 2019 I worked as a technician at the LABCMA, analyzing age and sexual maturity of cetaceans using histological techniques.

Débora Freitas da Silva

I majored in biology at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Campus Rio Claro/SP in 2008, and did my master's thesis in Biological Sciences - Zoology at the same university (2011). During my master's study, I analyzed the reproductive biology of franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei), estimating the age of sexual maturity among other reproductive aspects. I worked from 2015 to 2020 at the LABCMA as a histology technician, analyzing the sexual maturity and the age of cetaceans.

Ana Clara Baptista Mariani

In 2017 I was an undergraduate student seeking my degree at the Oceanography Institute - Universidade de São Paulo. My first experience at the LABCMA was made through projects developed by our local junior enterprise. I took part of the LABCMA team from 2018 to 2020, working with passive acoustic monitoring of the Arquipélago dos Alcatrazes.

Ednilson da Silva (Nanuka)

I’m a biologist, born in Cananéia where I always lived. I’ve been following the studies conducted by the Projeto Atlantis from 2002 to 2017. I used to act maily in the field, as an member of the local community, mediating the interaction between researchers and locals, and giving support to many activities such as the photo-identification efforts, the dolphin necropsies, the beach surveys, and the connections to the fishing community to investigate cetacean incidental captures.

Giovanna Corrêa e Figueiredo

I majored and mastered in Oceanography at the Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo in 2013 and 2017, respectively. I started working with cetaceans in 2011 at LABCMA. My masters project described the occurrence and distribution of whales and dolphins along São Paulo State coast and is part of the "Cruzeiros Oceanográficos- FAPESP" project.

Leonardo Maia Durante

I majored in Oceanography at the University of São Paulo. I was a member of the LABCMA team from 2012 to 2014. I worked with incidental catches of small cetaceans, mainly franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) in the southern coast of São Paulo.

Elisa Silva Ventura

I have started my undergraduate course in Biology at the University of São Paulo in 2011. I joined the LABCMA team from 2013 to 2014 as a trainee. I helped in lab organization and curation of the biological material. I also participated in field trips to collect biological material and photographic data.

Sophia Frenk

I graduated in Oceanography at the Instituto Oceanografico, Universidade de São Paulo. After spending some time working with fishes' reproduction, I started working with cetaceans in 2013 in LABCMA. In 2014 I developed a scientific initiation project in which I evaluated the relationship between some environmental variables and size of groups of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis, in estuarine waters of Cananeia, making use of multivariate statistical tool.

Aline Boutros de Mello

I majored in Marine Biology at Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho” in 2010. I have been studying marine mammals since 2007 and I have experience in biology, ecology and conservation of cetaceans. My masters was in oceanography at Instituto Oceanografico (2015 to 2018), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), concerning abundance estimation of resident Guiana dolphins in the Cananeia estuary using capture-recapture models.

Julia Molina

I'm a biologist graduated at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and a Ms. in Biological Oceanography at the 'Instituto Oceanográfico' of the same university. I've previously worked on whale watching for the "Organisation Cetacea" in UK and I've been an intern at the LABCMA as a curator of the biological material when I have also concluded fieldwork and photographic data analysis. My masters degree concerned the spatial ecology of Guiana dolphins, addressing the distribution of populations and individuals over space and time, mainly in the Cananeia estuary.

Beatriz Mattiuzzo

I majored in Oceanography in 2017 in the Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo. Sea lover in many different ways, I am specially interessed in whales and dolphins as ecossystem sentinels. I got involved as part of the LABCMA team from 2015 to 2017 in research projects concerning cetacean bioacustics and conservation.

Julia Corradi Rabello

I am an Oceanographer, majored at the Universidade de São Paulo. After working with benthic meiofauna, I joined LABCMA in August 2015, where I stayed untill 2016, working on bycatch of small cetaceans, with emphasis on the La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) and the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) on the south coast of São Paulo.

Valéria Conversani

I'm majored in Biology at the Universidade Metodista de São Paulo with double degree at the Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal. I always had great interest in studies related to the ecology and conservation of cetaceans. I joined the LABCMA team in 2016 and took my master's degree in Biological Oceanography at Instituto Oceanográfico da USP in 2018. My project aimed to estimate the ages and obtain growth parameters of the La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) and the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) found dead on the southern coast of São Paulo and northern of Paraná.

Estela Monteiro

I majored in Oceanography in 2017 at the Universidade de São Paulo. I worked in LABCMA from 2015 to 2016 with cetacean bycatches.

Amanda Martinelli

Biologist majored at the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in 2016, I started my studies with marine mammals during an exchange program, where I was part of a project involving bioacoustics of blue whales. Since then, I have a special interest for bioacoustics. I worked with bioacoustics of terrestrial animals, but the marine environment continues to atract me more. I took part of the LABCMA team from 2017 to 2019 as a masters student, where I conducted a study to the describe the soundscape of two areas of the São Paulo coast.