Joana is a conservation ecologist interested in understanding how environmental changes can affect population dynamics of species. She developed her PhD at University of Aveiro, in collaboration with Swiss Ornithological Institute, exploring the links between migratory strategies, phenology, and breeding success of European bee-eaters. She is also interested in wader ecology and conservation. During her master thesis she studied the trophic ecology of waders wintering in Tagus estuary, Morocco, and Mauritania, using stable isotopes. Recently, Joana also worked at Samouco Saltpans (Portugal), monitoring the breeding population of Black-winged Stilts and Kentish plovers. Joana is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Complutense University of Madrid and University of Aveiro.