Sara Magalhães

Telephone: 217500000 (ext.522321)
Email: snmagalhaes@fc.ul.pt
Web References: Personal Site, <a href="https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57204277024" target="_blank">Scopus, <a href="https://scholar.google.pt/citations?hl=pt-PT&user=a6c3io8AAAAJ" target="_blank">Google Scholar, ORCID, ResearcherID
Research Group: <a href="/research/research-groups/evolutionary-perspectives-in-a-changing-world/evolution-of-host-parasite-interactions">Evolution of Host-Parasite Interactions

Group Leader

Experimental Evolution Herbivore-plant interactions Coinfection

I am full professor at FCUL and the head of the research group “Evolution of host-parasite interactions” at CE3C. The focus of my research is on the ecological and evolutionary aspects of these fascinating interactions, which I tackle using parasitic spider mites and their host plants. I address issues pertaining to the interaction between spider mites and organic or metal-based plant defences, and/or to competition among different mite species. However, I am interested in all types of ecological interactions and their evolutionary consequences, so I also collaborate with my colleagues within and outside of CE3C to address other topics such as sexual selection or predator-prey interactions. I am particularly interested in testing ecological and evolutionary theory with well-designed experiments, namely using experimental evolution.

I strongly believe that science is a cooperative endeavour and thus invest in activities that benefit to the scientific community, by playing an active role in national and international scientific societies (I am currently the president of the Portuguese Evolution Society – APBE – and in the nomination committee of the Society for the Study of Evolution – SSE) and being part of the Editorial Board of several journal (currently Evolution and The American Naturalist).

Although I believe that fundamental research is a societal priority, I am also devoted to bringing science closer to society. In particular, I have launched the Caravana Agroecológica in 2019 (https://caravanaagroecologica.weebly.com/), a series of initiatives aiming at building bridges between researchers, producers and consumers committed to sustainable agriculture. We are currently running a LIFE project (GrowLIFE) together with the hospitality and tourism schools of Portugal.