Research Group: MPB - Marine PalaeoBiogeography

A passion for algal biodiversity Suzanne Fredericq Suzanne Fredericq is a Professor of Biology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a long-time collaborator with University of the Azores. She comes from Belgian families of scholars, including female pioneers in law, arts and science. Her scientific career started as a girl with a Weizmann Institute Fellowship for high school graduates, and continued to become one of the most respected algal specialists. She will talk about her passion for algal biodiversity and her field of study - the systematics of marine red algae, a field concerned with detecting patterns of evolutionary relationships among the species under study. She will illustrate how her approach to seaweed research would certainly have been less joyful if it weren't for experiencing analogies in biological structure and process, and in visual art. She will address how the art historian Marie Fredericq-Lilar, her mother, instilled in her a love of art and aesthetics, how the writer Suzanne Lilar, her grandmother, instilled in her a love of intellectual pursuit, and how the painter Eugene J. Martin, her husband, crystallized in her the combination of both.

No próximo dia 11 de novembro de 2020 terá lugar o Workshop "Estratégia para Promover a Biotecnologia Azul na Macaronésia: Roteiro 2020-2030" organizado pelo Banco Espanhol de Algas da Universidade de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, no âmbito do projeto REBECA. O REBECA propõe a criação de uma plataforma de colaboração entre as diferentes regiões da Macaronésia e do Nordeste da África que permita consolidar uma rede de excelência em biotecnologia baseada na economia azul, especificamente na biodiversidade de microalgas. A rede REBECA procura identificar e priorizar as necessidades tecnológicas, burocráticas e legislativas necessárias para garantir a competitividade, sustentabilidade e crescimento do tecido empresarial em torno da biotecnologia de algas. Durante o workshop procurar-se-á identificar os desafios que o setor enfrenta ao nível da região da Macaronésia, de forma a concluir com um Roteiro para a promoção da biotecnologia azul na Macaronésia, com base na estreita cooperação público-privada. Duas questões centrais serão abordadas: o desenvolvimento da biotecnologia de algas no cenário europeu e nacional, bem como questões relacionadas com o quadro regulamentar regional, com especialistas nacionais e internacionais na área. Para participar no workshop registe-se através do formulário disponível neste link. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMKV5ZiHTnrQUS7icghQinh-MzyHYw1evR4RH3CgT6zODgUw/viewform O projeto REBECA (MAC/1.1a/060) é cofinanciado a 85% por fundos FEDER do Programa de Cooperação Territorial INTERREG V A Espanha-Portugal MAC 2014-2020.

Cabo Verdean researcher, Danilson Varela, in partnership with researchers from the Institute of Agronomy in Lisbon (Maria Romeiras, Filipa Monteiro, Patrícia Vidigal), and from the University of the Azores (Luís Silva) published in the Sustainability Journal (ISSN 2071-1050), a research paper that analyzes the performance of the agrarian sector in Cabo Verde under the Objectives of Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the Common Agricultural Policy for West Africa (CAADP / ECOWAP). The article entitled "Mechanisms Implemented for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture: An Overview of Cabo Verde Performance" (available at https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5855 ), is part of the "CV AGROBIODIVERSITY - climatic changes and plant genetic resources: the overlooked potential of Cabo Verde's endemic flora" led by Maria Manuel Romeiras, and financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).