Ronaldo Sousa (Professor at Department of Biology, University of Minho) discuss some of the possible effects generated by the introduction of the invasive species Mytilopsis leucophaeata in Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The news was published in the O Globo newspaper.

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A Doutora Judite Almeida, docente do Departamento de Biologia, participou na rúbrica sobre a Escola de Ciências da Universidade do Minho, com um artigo intitulado "A PEGADA HÍDRICA - incentivo ao consumo responsável da água (parte1)". Esta rúbrica tem também como objectivo criar uma relação entre leitores e investigadores.

Ver aqui o artigo do Correio do Minho »»

The Do*Mar doctoral programme on Science, Technology and Management has just published a call for applications to the Universities of Aveiro, Minho and Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Seven Do*Mar-FCT scholarships are available in this call. Details of the application and selection procedures are available in http://domar.socpvs.org

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Pavilhão do Conhecimento - Ciência Viva
Lisboa, 8^th March 2016, 17.30

On 8^th March 2016, at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisboa, we are celebrating 20 years of Ciência Viva and the International Women's Day with the release of the book Women in Science and the opening of a digital exhibition composed of portraits and testimony of Portuguese women researchers.

Claudia Pascoal, Professor and Researcher at the CBMA in the University of Minho, is among the honorees in the exhibition and the book Women in Science.

The program includes a debate on Women and Computer Science, with the participation of EU leaders of the Association for Computing Machinery and the attendance of the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Prof. Manuel Heitor.

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The University of Minho, the Organizing Committee and the Portuguese Society of Biochemistry (SPB) invite you to join the XIX National Congress of Biochemistry, in Guimarães, from the 8th to the 10th of December 2016.

The three days of the meeting provide excellent opportunities to present and discuss cutting-edge achievements in Biochemistry and Molecular Biosciences. 

We hope you can join us in this exciting event, and wish you a very pleasant stay in Guimarães.

Margarida Casal
Chair of SPB2016

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CBMA team made the cover of the last issue of PLoS-Computational Biology

Jorge M. Pacheco et al., DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004709 »»

Threats of marine litter to marine life are primarily mechanical due to ingestion and entanglement in plastic packing straps, discarded fishing gear and other floating litter objects. The increment of plastic litter is becoming an increasingly problem and some marine animals are more prone to consume or get entangled during their life cycle.

With respect to sea turtles, all seven species have been reported to ingest litter that can be directly responsible for the obstruction of their digestive tracts and death or even at low ingestion rates marine litter is reported to have sub-lethal effects on sea turtles such as dietary dilution with consequent nutrient absorption reduction.

The present study reports for the first time the presence of marine litter in the digestive tracts of loggerhead sea turtles found stranded dead along the Portuguese continental coast. The frequency of marine litter in the digestive tracts (59.0%) indicates that litter ingestion is relatively common in loggerhead turtles using Portuguese continental waters.

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For the first time in the Europe, a survey based on Distance Sampling methodologies was used to evaluate the quantity of marine debris (with special attention upon plastics) floating in deep offshore waters.

This survey was a component of the MarPro Life, with several researchers from Univ. Minho. The main conclusions were:

- The average density of debris was 2.98 items/km2 and the total abundance amounted to 752,740 items;

- Plastics constitute the major bulk of FMD (density = 0.46 items/km2; abundance = 117,390 items), followed by styrofoam, derelict or lost materials from fisheries, paper/cardboard and wood material;

- The North sector of the area presents higher FMD diversity and abundances, probably as a result of the high number of navigation corridors and fisheries operating in that sector;

- Most FMD originate from local sources, namely discharges from vessels and derelict material from fisheries. 

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The project "Capredux - Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in the Special Protection Zone Aveiro- Nazareth", which brings together Portuguese Wildlife Society and the universities of Minho and Aveiro, was the winner of "INAQUA - Conservation Fund by Lisbon Oceanarium and National Geographic Channel, "announced today. This project is led by Dr. José Vingada.

See news of the prize - Wilder »»

See news about the project - Canal Port »»

See news about the project - TSF »»