On the origin of a PhD student
Back in April 2011 I was starting what would be my first MSc thesis on the influence of environmental factors on Mytilus galloprovincialis mortality from exposed and sheltered habitats. Two of my current supervisors, Dr. Katy Nicastro and Dr. Gerardo Zardi, had just teached me all the field methods when they left to South Africa. The adventures of my first MSc thesis deserve their own post, I hope I will be able to tell you one day.
Few months later an unexpected finding turned my thesis upside down and a brand new thesis arose. We have just found out that the brown mussel Perna perna was dispersed along South Portuguese coast and I had the opportunity to embrace a whole new adventure. Half field work, half genetics. While investigating the range distribution and population genetics of P. perna we also used its Mediterranean companion so well-known in Portugal: the blue mussel M. galloprovincialis. The presence of this species would let us know if the habitat was suitable or not for other intertidal mussels. Though both species belong to the same family, they couldn’t be more different, and this leads us to the formulation of two distinct manuscripts. While the Perna manuscript is still in progress (wait for it!), the Mytilus paper has just been published. Here I am, doing a bit of shameless self-promotion:
Feel free to ask a copy!
