Vanessa is a Post-doctoral researcher in the Biodiversity, Genetics & Evolution Doctoral Program at the University of Porto, Portugal. Her research has mainly focused on the use of genetic barcoding techniques to uncover species interactions. Her PhD thesis focused on the use of metabarcoding to study the diet of bats and understand their ecology and role as providers of ecosystem services. Her research interests include conservation and ecology, but also population genetics, biogeography and ecological niche modeling. Although her main research is with bats, she is also interested in other faunal groups, especially birds and insects, and how they cope with human-altered landscapes.