Tropical and Mediterranean Biodiversity - TMB
Subgroup Leader of Subterranean Ecology

Ana Sofia Reboleira

Assistant Professor

Biology Ecology Subterranean Biology Entomology Parasitism

I received an European Ph.D. in Biology, specialty in Biodiversity, Ecology and Ecosystem Management from the University of Aveiro in 2012. I am an assistant professor at the University of Lisbon. My research focuses on understanding the diversity and evolution of life, and how it is impacted by anthropogenic activities. I am very interested in applying multidisciplinary approaches to the study of biodiversity, ecology, evolution, behaviour, physiology and ecotoxicology, using arthropods adapted to subterranean ecosystems, parasite-host interactions linked to arthropod-fungal associations, and cave microbiomes as a model.

My discoveries revealed a new global subterranean biodiversity hotspot in Portugal. I led scientific expeditions on all continents, except Antarctica. I discovered and described more than 70 new species for science. I was distinguished with the Villum Young Investigator in 2017 in Denmark, aimed at particularly talented researchers in natural sciences. Before joining FCUL, I was an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark (2017-2020), Visiting Associate Professor at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia (2018) and Visitor at Harvard University, USA (2016). I was Vice-President of the International Society for Subterranean Biology (2014-2016) and Chair of the International Conference on Subterranean Biology (2018), held in Portugal for the first time.

I lead two international research projects focused on the study of subterranean ecosystems at global scale, and I coordinate the cave laboratory "Troglobiário" located in Algar do Pena Cave in central Portugal.