Marta Vergílio holds Master Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Aveiro and a PhD in Biology from the University of the Azores working on the ecological structure in spatial plans for small islands. Since graduation, she has collaborated in different projects related to environmental management and spatial planning. She is currently Member of the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources – CIBIO-Azores and was member of the research project team “SmartParks – Planning and Management System for Small Islands Protected Areas”. She is currently member of the research project MUSES – Multi-use in European seas and the project PADDLE - Planning in a liquid world with tropical stakes. She has also authored and co-authored in technical reports and peer-reviewed scientific papers

Mario is a geographer with MSc in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the University of Seville. Mario completed the Erasmus Mundus Master Course on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), co-organised by the universities of Seville, Azores, and IUAV of Venice, in 2016. Since2009 he has been working for private companies as well as international organisations (European Commission, IOC-Unesco) in the fields of planning, GIS, and MSP (from 2015). He currently works in the University of the Azores as a Research Assistant.

Kiat Ng is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Faculty of Engineering at University of Porto. She holds a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University (Canada), Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University (USA) and PhD in Geography with emphasis on Spatial Planning from University of the Azores (Portugal). Projects involved to-date included FCT-funded project SMARTPARKS: Protected Areas’ Planning and Management System for Small Islands, and EU-funded FP7 project BASE: Bottom-Up Climate Adaptation Strategies towards a Sustainable Europe. Her research interests broadly include climate change and variability impacts, coastal vulnerability and resilience, sea level rise, sustainable climate change adaptation measures, marine spatial planning, protected areas management, nature-based solutions, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), multi-inter-transdisciplinary research, sustainable transitions, holistic methodology and systemic approach. 

Maria Anunciação Ventura is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology of Azores University (Portugal), and affiliated to CIBIO InBIO – Azores. Has a degree in Biology by the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, and finished her academic career at the University of the Azores where she got a doctorate in Biology, specialty Animal Ecology. She is responsible for various disciplines in the fields of Ecology, Conservation and Sampling, given to graduation courses (Biology and Psychology), post-graduation courses (Masters in Biodiversity and Insular Ecology; Integrated Studies of the Oceans; Environment, Health and Safety; Erasmus Mundus on Sea Planning), and a doctorate course in Biology. She has coordinated and participated on research projects in the areas of Conservation and Sustainable Development, and has supervised graduated scholars, master and PhD students.

I am an economist with experience in policymaking, both as an elected member of parliament and member of government. My current activities include teaching both at undergraduate and postgraduate level and supervising research in environmental valuation and outdoor recreation economics. Ongoing research is focused on marine ecosystem valuation and social and cultural services assessment. I am particularly interested in assessment of marine protected areas  in areas of national jurisdiction and beyond national jurisdiction  and the conflicts between users in multi-use MPAs.

Research Interests: Environmental Valuation, Outdoor Recreation Economics, Marine Wildlife Tourism 

Aldino Campos holds a degree in Naval Military Sciences (Portuguese Naval Academy), a MEng in Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering (University of New Brunswick) and a Ph.D. in Territory Engineering (Technical University of Lisbon). He is specialized in Hydrography (IHO – Cat. A) and also holds the Hydrography Engineering Diploma (Portuguese Hydrographic Institute). He served in the Portuguese Navy on board of several hydrographic ships on both bathymetric and geodetic missions. He also served in the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute, mostly as hydrographer and spatial data management officer. He coordinated the geomatics component of the Portuguese submission of the continental shelf, where he developed several software solutions to implement the provision of article 76 of UNCLOS. He has been teaching hydrography, nautical cartography and GIS in several Portuguese universities. He has also been an adviser in Maritime Boundary and Continental Shelf projects on several Portuguese speaking States. He is the former head of the Portuguese Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf. He is the author of numerous papers in International Conferences and workshops on the project of the extension of the Continental Shelf.

Marta Chantal Ribeiro is Assistant Professor (with tenure) of European Union Law, International Law and Law of the Sea at the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto. She holds a position as principal investigator at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (University of Porto), being the leader of the Law of the Sea Research Group. She holds a degree and master in Law (University of Coimbra) and completed her PhD at the University of Porto in the field of Law of the Sea (protection of marine biodiversity through protected areas; national, European and international legal regimes). Currently her research is focused on conservation of marine biodiversity, including the ABNJ, fisheries, deep-sea mining and marine spatial planning, being author of more than 25 publications. Since 2010 Marta Chantal Ribeiro has been involved in several international and national research projects.

Marie Bonnin has a Phd in Public Law since 2003 and she is a Director of research at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), France. Marie Bonnin is involved in several multidisciplinary initiatives (Labex mer, Programm MAB, PPR,…). She’s interested by innovations in legal and political science and by evolution of marine environmental law in tropical Atlantic.

Eva Papaioannou has a background in marine sciences and geography and is particularly interested in human-environmental interactions. Her PhD research (Christian Albrecht’s University of Kiel, Germany) involved the characterisation of the German Baltic small-scale fishery and the assessment of impacts on the fishery due to past environmental and regulatory changes. She has been involved in several interdisciplinary research projects in Europe and the USA. Her research involves the use of both quantitative and qualitative data and methodologies (Geographic Information Systems, interview surveys, participatory mapping with coastal communities). She is very interested in novel approaches to marine and coastal management and governance that foster genuine collaboration among scientists (both natural and social), regulators and local communities.

I am Md Mostafa Monwar is a Bangladeshi by birth. I am working as a faculty member of the Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries (IMSF), University of Chittagong (CU), Bangladesh and now on study leave. I completed my BSc and MSc degree in Marine Science from IMSF, CU. I completed post graduate diploma on Aquatic Resource Development from Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Scotland. Later, I obtained MPhil degree on Coastal Aquaculture from IMSF, CU. I have worked with many national and international research projects related to coastal and marine environment, and resources. Moreover, I have published some research articles on coastal and Marine resources.
Now I am studying EU funded Erasmus+ Master course Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) jointly organized Sevilla University of Spain, Azores University of Portugal and IUAV University of Italy. In 2016, I started my internship in the Azores University under GPS Azores Project. My Master thesis topic is "Strategic framework for MSP in the Atlantic". My research interest is marine spatial planning and climate change related issues.

Elisabetta is a Marine Biologist from Italy. She obtained her Master Degree at the Marche Polytechnic University of Ancona. She was involved in researches and related publication on marine invertebrates phylogenetic during her studies. She has work experience as research assistant in the field of phylogeography at the South Australian Museum of Adelaide and she also worked in the nautical tourism sector. Elisabetta is now finishing the first year of the Erasmus Mundus Master Course on Maritime Spatial Planning 2016/18, a European funded program hosted by the University of Azores, University of Seville and IUAV- University of Venice.

Evangelia Tzika holds a Diploma from a five years course in Planning and Regional Development completed at the University of Thessaly, in Greece. During her internship and after graduation, she has worked for public administrations related to terrestrial planning. Later, she was involved as a research associate in “Med-Iamer: Integrated Actions to Mitigate Environmental Risks in the Mediterranean Sea” project, on developing an evaluation framework for policies. She is currently a Master student on the Erasmus Mundus Master Course on Maritime Spatial Planning 2016/18, a joint programme by the universities of Seville, Azores, and IUAV of Venice.

Ana Vitoria is an Urban Planner from PUC Minas Brazil and Polytechnic school of Turin, Italy. She is part of the Erasmus Mundus Master Course on Maritime Spatial Planning edition of 2015-17, by University of Azores, Venice and Seville. During the months of August 2016 to February 2017, she performed an internship at the European Commission (DG MARE), where she was dealing with the Member States transposition of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (2014/89/EC) and with the organization of the Joint International Conference on MSP that was held in UNESCO Headquarters (Paris), in March of 2017. Her main area of interest is cultural heritage & maritime spatial planning. At this moment, she is summer intern at the University of the Azores.

After earning a bachelor degree in Political Sciences at Saint-Louis University in Brussels, I pursued my academic journey in Québec, where I graduated with a master degree in Political Geography from Laval University. This focus allowed me to add an environmental dimension to my political knowledge. My interest for the circumpolar world grew stronger as I specialized in the geopolitics of the Arctic.

I then expended my horizons and worked for 3 months at the University of the Azores on marine spatial planning for the European project called "Geographical and Political Scenarios in Maritime Spatial Planning for the Azores and North Atlantic.

I am currently a trainee at the European Parliament in the Policy Department for External Policies, working on the EU relationships with Central Asian countries, Nordic Countries, Russia and Canada.

Firdaous Halim is a Geologist from the University of Sciences of Rabat Morocco specialized in Coastal and Marine Sciences. She was a student researcher in the coastal sciences and climate change laboratory in the same University and was involved in the Euro-Maghrebian Research project MAGHLAG (Maghrebian Lagoons) with the sponsorship of START and the co‐leading of MEDFRIEND (a FRIEND program of the UNESCO). The Project addressed the vulnerability of the Mediterranean coastal ecosystems to climate change in which she developed her Master thesis investigating the ecosystem services of one of the biggest South Mediterranean lagoons (Marchica lagoon, Morocco) by elaborating a biogeochemical modelling using the LOICZ toolbox. Currently, she is a student in the second year of the Erasmus Mundus Master Course on Maritime Spatial Planning (2017-2019), a joint program held by the University of Seville, the University of the Azores and the University of Venice IUAV.

Camila Pegorelli is Brazilian oceanographer from University of Sao Paulo currently attending a master degree in Maritime Spatial Planning from the Erasmus Mundus Programme. Beyond her background on meteo-oceanographic data analyses, acquired during more than three years of scientific initiation researches, possesses also professional experiences on conservation units, focused mainly in their management and in the development of management plans. Such experiences have given to her valuable insights in governance and public participation. Her main interests are in the marine environment and in its potential resources; its planning, governance and public participation, aiming its conservancy, regarding the increasing human demands, looking for sustainable alternatives, management and governance tools and the integration of the society (government, private sector and civilians) to reach such goal.

He is current a master student fellow from the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency within the ERASMUS MUNDUS Master Course in Maritime Spatial Planning. He holds a 5 years Bachelor’s degree in Oceanography from the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG). As an undergraduate, he was a fellow from the Laboratory of Phytoplankton and Microorganisms from the Oceanographic Institute at FURG. He was responsible for collecting, analyzing and interpreting oceanographic data, obtained from different projects and oceanographic cruises on the Southeastern Brazilian Slope and the Western Antarctic Peninsula. For his under-graduation thesis, he worked with phytoplankton pigments through a High Performance Liquid Chromatography methodology in association with a Chemical Taxonomy Method (CHEMTAX) to determine phytoplankton community structure in relation to water mass characteristics. He was award an international scholarship which provided me to study my senior year at the University of Miami and do research as an invited guest at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution at the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry department. Today He is a volunteer at the Azorean Maritime Spatial Planning under the scope of the project Macaronesia Maritime Spatial Planning. He is developing a methodology for the insertion of the fisheries sector on the MSP process of the Azores. Current he is drawing out the methodology to insert fisheries traditional knowledge on the Azores MSP process through a GIS based system.