Q1. Who inspired you to become a scientist?

My 10^th grade Biology and my 11^th grade Mathematics teachers did inspire me to pursue a career in Science. Initially, I did not really think about being a ‘scientist’, but after my College degree, I found that I did enjoy doing research and this is when I chose to pursue this career.

Q2. What drives your research interest?

I am very interested in finding why things happen the way they do. I always preferred plant science to any other discipline in Biology, and I found that growth and development involved several genes and signalling pathways that were plant-specific, whereas others were conserved across kingdoms. To dissect and characterise the relationship between the different regulators (genes, proteins, long non-protein coding RNAs) is where my interest lies.

Q3. What is your current research focus?

I am interested in the mechanisms controlling plant growth and developmental transitions (e.g., flowering) and how they connect with seasonal perception. My research aims to integrate the perception of time, which is controlled by the circadian clock, with specific growth patterns. We also study the factors controlling the time to flower in different plant species. Recently, my team started incorporating abiotic stress perception into this growth regulation. Considering the changes we are seeing in terms of climate, our research tries to identify and characterise the regulators that could provide stress resilience in plants, especially in forage crops.

Q4. Who are your current scientific influences?

I follow the work of several colleagues, mostly those working in fields related to mine, such as the TOR signalling pathway, long non-coding RNA function, photoperiod-dependent flowering regulation. Many of those colleagues became collaborators and it has been great to exchange ideas and expertise over the years.

Q5. If you hadn’t become a scientist, what would your dream job be?

That is a difficult question, I like many things besides science… but I would say I could have studied History or Arts. I would probably love to be an artist.

Q6. What are your hobbies?

I like to draw but never have enough time to do it as much as I would like. I also do yoga and Pilates. I walk (a lot) and enjoy going to art exhibitions, museums and concerts.

Q7. What books influenced you the most?

I like several authors, more than a particular book. I would list Jose Saramago, Lidia Jorge (in Portuguese). Then in English I would highlight Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood.

Q8. What are your favourite movies?

I have quite an eclectic taste, since I could mention many of Quentin Tarantino’s and Pedro Almodovar’s movies, but then I would also like the first Star War movies.

Q9. What advice would you give your 18-year old self?

To just go for it and not be afraid to try.

Q10. What, in your opinion, is the “next big thing” in the field of scientific research?

At this point, I think AI with its ability to integrate multiple data sources and big datasets, will allow us to have more integrated views on any given research topic. However, that will also bring the challenge of matching all these ‘predictions’ with actual wet-lab data. In terms of plant science, one of the main things to tackle is the integration of different pathways and networks, finding the connections and the common regulators. This would require that molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology and metabolomics data are analysed as whole and not in separate silos.