XIII Workshop APECS Portugal
“A Snowy Road to One Health”
The XIII APECS Portugal Workshop took place on the 18th of November, at the University of Algarve, in Faro. The workshop was held in a hybrid format with both face-to-face and online participants.
This year, as the name “A Snowy Road to One Health” indicates, the workshop focused on the One Health theme, which we believe is the right direction for better environmental health of ecosystems and populations of the most varied species.
We believe that only through the work and development of the various sectors in simultaneous, such as politics, economy, technology, all having science as foundation, will we be able to evolve as a society and achieve the goals we have set for ourselves over the last few years.
We had national and international guests who coordinate and are involved in the most diverse areas of science and their practical applications. They shared the science and projects they are involved in and/or coordinate, from Antarctica to the Arctic. In the final part, we had a debate with the various speakers on the topic and the challenges that science faces to be more effective in the future.
Invited speakers
Pedro Guerreiro
Pedro M. Guerreiro is a Research Associate in the Comparative & Integrative Biology group at Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) and Invited Assistant Professor at University of Algarve. Pedro has a bachelor in Marine Biology, University of Algarve, a PhD in Animal Physiology, in Nijmegen University, Netherlands and a Postdoc Physiology and Neurobiology at the University of Connecticut, US.
Research focuses on the physiological mechanisms that allow organisms, mainly fish, to adjust to their environment, in an evolutionary process and in contexts of rapid climate change, extreme conditions or invasive species. He uses Krogh’s principle to address questions on stress response, osmoregulation, metabolism, behavior and endocrine regulation. He is the current president of the Iberian Society of Ichthyology.
He has participated in 5 Antarctic campaigns performing experimental studies on the impacts of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic fish, often in cooperation with Chilean and Chinese researchers. He is a national alternate delegate in SCAR and a national representative in the Life Sciences Group.
Arja Rautio
Arja Rautio, MD, PhD, VP Research University of the Arctic, Professor in Arctic Research, Director of Thule Institute, University of Oulu, Finland. Her research interests are on population studies, Indigenous health and wellbeing, research ethics and environmental health under climate change in the Arctic. She is using One Health and community-based participatory approaches in her on-going Horizon projects of Nunataruyk (Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic coastal communities), and ECDMET (Effects on endocrine disruptors on human health). Dr Rautio is working as a national key expert in the Human Health groups of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme and Sustainable Development Working Group of Arctic Council, and participating in the project of One Arctic, One Health. She is a board member of International Union of Circumpolar Health and Chair of Nordic Society of Circumpolar Health.
Filipa Samarra
Filipa Samarra is a researcher at the University of Iceland, specializing on marine mammal behavioural ecology, interspecific interactions and the impacts of anthropogenic activities on cetacean populations. Filipa made her bachelor in Biology at University of Azores, moving to the UK where obtained both Master and her PhD at University of St Andrews. Her work to date has focused particularly on killer whale acoustic communication, social behaviour, movement and feeding ecology. Filipa founded the Icelandic Orca Project in 2008, the longest-running research programme on killer whales in Iceland. Her current research interests lie with exploring the drivers shaping the ecology and behaviour of marine top predators and how ecosystem changes may impact these species.
Agnieszka Kruszewska
Agnieszka is the Director of Administrative Affairs of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS). Since 2012, Agnieszka has managed the Polish Antarctic Station H. Arctowski, located on King George Island, South Shetland Islands (West Antarctica). Her job is to supervise the logistics and investments carried out at the station. In connection with the experience gained in the management of polar infrastructure Agnieszka has the honor to chair the Polish Polar Consortium, to be a member of the Presidium of the Polar Research Committee of the PAS, and to represent the Polish Antarctic Program in COMNAP.
Pedro Guerreiro
Pedro M. Guerreiro is a Research Associate in the Comparative & Integrative Biology group at Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) and Invited Assistant Professor at University of Algarve. Pedro has a bachelor in Marine Biology, University of Algarve, a PhD in Animal Physiology, in Nijmegen University, Netherlands and a Postdoc Physiology and Neurobiology at the University of Connecticut, US.
Research focuses on the physiological mechanisms that allow organisms, mainly fish, to adjust to their environment, in an evolutionary process and in contexts of rapid climate change, extreme conditions or invasive species. He uses Krogh’s principle to address questions on stress response, osmoregulation, metabolism, behavior and endocrine regulation. He is the current president of the Iberian Society of Ichthyology.
He has participated in 5 Antarctic campaigns performing experimental studies on the impacts of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic fish, often in cooperation with Chilean and Chinese researchers. He is a national alternate delegate in SCAR and a national representative in the Life Sciences Group.
Arja Rautio
Arja Rautio, MD, PhD, VP Research University of the Arctic, Professor in Arctic Research, Director of Thule Institute, University of Oulu, Finland. Her research interests are on population studies, Indigenous health and wellbeing, research ethics and environmental health under climate change in the Arctic. She is using One Health and community-based participatory approaches in her on-going Horizon projects of Nunataruyk (Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic coastal communities), and ECDMET (Effects on endocrine disruptors on human health). Dr Rautio is working as a national key expert in the Human Health groups of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme and Sustainable Development Working Group of Arctic Council, and participating in the project of One Arctic, One Health. She is a board member of International Union of Circumpolar Health and Chair of Nordic Society of Circumpolar Health.
Filipa Samarra
Filipa Samarra is a researcher at the University of Iceland, specializing on marine mammal behavioural ecology, interspecific interactions and the impacts of anthropogenic activities on cetacean populations. Filipa made her bachelor in Biology at University of Azores, moving to the UK where obtained both Master and her PhD at University of St Andrews. Her work to date has focused particularly on killer whale acoustic communication, social behaviour, movement and feeding ecology. Filipa founded the Icelandic Orca Project in 2008, the longest-running research programme on killer whales in Iceland. Her current research interests lie with exploring the drivers shaping the ecology and behaviour of marine top predators and how ecosystem changes may impact these species.
Agnieszka Kruszewska
Agnieszka is the Director of Administrative Affairs of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS). Since 2012, Agnieszka has managed the Polish Antarctic Station H. Arctowski, located on King George Island, South Shetland Islands (West Antarctica). Her job is to supervise the logistics and investments carried out at the station. In connection with the experience gained in the management of polar infrastructure Agnieszka has the honor to chair the Polish Polar Consortium, to be a member of the Presidium of the Polar Research Committee of the PAS, and to represent the Polish Antarctic Program in COMNAP.