Mafalda de Freitas is a marine biologist and since march 2020 assumed the Regional Directorate for the Sea (DRM) of Madeira Government. Responsible for several EU-Research Projects and PI in several research missions. As director of DRM, responsible for the Programme Blue Schools “Escola Azul” in Madeira Island.

She has a MSc in Business Administration (Management of MPA’s) and in the last 25 years worked on deep sea resources, participated in scientific fishing and ROV missions, research projects and international congresses. Other experiences:

Director – Marine Biology Station of Funchal (01/08/2006 → 28/02/2020)

Curator – Funchal Natural History Museum (since march 2002)

President of the Yacht Club “Clube Naval do Funchal” (2010→2018)

President of the Board – Marina do Funchal (01/10/2010 → 31/07/2019)

Ocean governance, Marine Spatial Planning, Blue Economy, Deep Sea taxonomy, Ocean literacy and Citizen Science, scientific diving.

Coastal Systems and Ocean