Coordinator

Maria A. Gasalla

Professor Gasalla holds a PhD in Oceanography, a MSc in Biological Oceanography and a BSc in Biology, and became a fisheries scientist after a 10-year position at a public research body in Brazil and scientific opportunities at international institutions (e.g. Canada, Spain, Denmark, Mexico and Argentina) where she studied ecosystem and stock assessment modelling but also social sciences and economics. She is a professor at the University of São Paulo’s Oceanographic Institute (IOUSP) and head of the Fisheries Ecosystems Laboratory where interdisciplinary research and capacity building in contemporary fisheries science have been a focus. She is currently a researcher of the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) developing and testing innovative approaches to integrate different fisheries issues in the context of complex marine social-ecological systems. She has also been serving as a member of scientific international committes related to the oceans, fisheries and global climate change (IMBER, FAO). She is currently associated to the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA-USP), and to several task-forces representing Brazil.

Doctoral Students

Carolina Costa de Araújo

Her research focus is the drivers identification of cephalopods paralarval occurrence in the South Brazil Bight marine ecosystem. She has a BSc degree in Biological Sciences, and MSc in Biological Oceanography from the Oceanographic Institute (USP). She is a PhD  in Oceanography at USP, aiming a dual program with UMASS. She has experience in Biological Oceanography, with emphasis on early-life stages of squid.

Julia Petroski Olher

Julia is an oceanographer with a degree from the University of São Paulo (IOUSP) and currently a PhD student at the Fisheries Ecosystems Laboratory and the international Mission Atlantic project. Her line of research covers ecosystem modeling, climate change in fisheries and trophic studies of fish, with a focus on the South Brazil Shelf and oceanic islands of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Brazil and the United Kingdom jurisdiction). She has a keen interest in science communication, having won the University of São Paulo awards for the best Flash Talk in the Exact Sciences category in 2021, and for the best postgraduate video in Exact Sciences in 2022.

Letícia Fernandes Alvarenga Monteiro

She is a PhD student in Oceanography at the University of São Paulo. Her research aims to analyze and evaluate the effects of simulations of different environmental factors and fishing gradients on the marine ecosystem based on the use of trophic models. She has a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) and a master's degree in Marine Biology and Coastal Environments from UFF. She is currently a CNPq scholarship holder.

Master's Students

Debora Cristina Ferrari Ramalho

She was a Master degree student investigating local agents in the interface Climate Change-Fishing communities. She has a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences (UNESP/Rio Claro, 2016). FAPESP scholarship.

Mariana Santos Lobato Martins

Her research aimed to investigate the relationship between traditional fishing communities' knowledge and the management of a protected area from the Southern coast of São Paulo. Mariana is an Oceanographer from the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), and was a FAPESP-funded graduate student at USP.

Renato Brunner Pavone

Renato is a graduate student at IOUSP and his current research seeks to explore the environmental compensation mechanisms for small-scale fishers. His B.Sc. thesis was on the vulnerability of fishing towards potential enterprise-based infra-structure impacts in the coastal zone of Peruibe. He was also an international exchange student at Dalhousie University (Canada).

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Dra. Amanda Ricci Rodrigues

She is a postdoctoral technical fellow (CNPq) in the project “Strategic analysis to ecosystem-based fisheries management in the South Brazil shelf Large Marine Ecosystem”. She has a PhD in Oceanography (University of São Paulo), and her doctoral research aims to evaluate the economic performance of major fishing fleets operating in the South Brazil shelf. Amanda is originally a biologist (Mackenzie University) with a MSc degree in Fisheries and Aquaculture (Fisheries Institute, São Paulo). She has large experience in studies related to fisheries and marine resources.

Dra. Thamíris Christina Karlovic de Abreu

She holds a PhD in Oceanography and specializes in Data Science from the University of São Paulo. She seeks to integrate programming and statistical modeling for marine conservation. She is currently a researcher with a grant from the European Union's Horizon 2020 in the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge (SOMAR) case study of the Mission Atlantic project, where she seeks to assess changes in the patterns of ecosystem indicators. She has a degree in Biological Sciences and a master's degree in Applied Ecology.

Undergraduate Students

Amanda Figueredo Fonseca

Her research aims to study the Social dimension of fishing on the Brazilian Sotheast/South coast. Graduated in Oceanography from the Oceanographic Institute of USP. She is currently in charge of the "Mulheres da Pesca" project.