Pedro Madureira is the Deputy-Head of EMEPC and the technical and scientific coordinator of the project for the extension of the Portuguese continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. He is the leader of the first leg of the iMirabilis cruise, where a multidisciplinary team of ROV technicians/pilots, geologists, biologists and oceanographers is working together onboard the B/O Sarmiento de Gamboa. He has a background on Geology and his main interest during this first leg is the collection of geological data and samples on the Azores-Biscay Rise, aiming to contribute to the knowledge on the geological evolution of the North Atlantic.    

Luisa Pinto Ribeiro is a geologist working at the Portuguese Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf (EMEPC) and has been onboard of several oceanographic campaigns. Her main interest is the geochemical characterization of submarine volcanic rock samples and to study the deep magmatic processes in the origin of seamounts and submarine volcanic structures. She is interest, in particular, in the volcanic structures of the north Atlantic and within the Portuguese extension of the continental shelf area and her research has been focused on the Southern Azores Seamount Chain and on the seamounts along the Madeira-Tore Rise. Hopefully, during LEG0 of the iMirabilis cruise and with the ROV Luso, it will be possible to explore and recover rock samples from the seafloor in an unexplored seamount on the Azores-Biscay Rise.

Inês Tojeira is a deep-sea ecologist focused on studying the biodiversity and community structure of deep-sea ecosystems in the North Atlantic. I. Tojeira is especially interested in benthic communities including cold water corals and deep sea sponge aggregations with their associated habitats. I. Tojeira has more than 12 years of experience in deep-sea sampling using remotely operated vehicles (ROV).

Teresa Rafael is a biologist and a member of the EMEPC team. It´s my first time at a  Sarmiento de Gamboa oceanographic campaign and I think this will be a big opportunity to learn  a lot about sampling and processing of deep sea samples.

Maria Simões is a GIS Officer at the EMEPC (Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf of Portugal). She has an extensive experience working with marine data. She is a first-year PhD student at Universidade de Évora. This expedition will help her on the characterization of the morphogenetic processes in the Western Portuguese continental margin and adjacent ocean basins, based on the analysis of multibeam bathymetry and seismic profiles.

Mónica Albuquerque has a Master's degree in Marine Ecology and work's at EMEPC since 2009 as a biologist. She is part of the team of biologists on board that will observe and sample the biodiversity and ecosystems of the deep sea using the ROV Luso.  She is responsible for Communication and Education at EMEPC and will be in charge of work outreach on board during the first part of the campaign. This is his 6th campaign with ROV Luso, the 2nd with B/O Sarmiento de Gamboa, totaling 104 days working with ROV Luso.

Antonio is the ROV Luso project coordinator at EMEPC (Portuguese Task Group for the Extension Of the Continental Shelf), and is also responsible for the offshore scientific operations at this institution. Antonio is a ROV Pilot Supervisor and has worked at EMEPC since the beginning of the ROV project in 2005. He participates annually in several oceanographic campaigns focused mainly on deep sea environment, led by EMEPC or by partner entities, and coordinates the operational part of most of these campaigns. He has spent more than 500 days at sea since 2007!

Andreia has a degree in Marine Sciences, specialised in the field of Physical Oceanography. Since 2008, I have been working at EMEPC (Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf), where I received ROV pilot and engineer training and integrated the 6000m rated ROV LUSO technical team. I have participated in approximately 21 multidisciplinary missions, half in the scope of the Continental Shelf Extension Project involving deep sea research. I am very interested and motivated by the conceptualisation, development and implementation of new sea technologies and tools. In this campaign I will be at ROV operations, from piloting to launch and recovering, including flying and sampling using ROV instruments. I will maintain and fix this equipment in a daily basis.

I have a degree in Oceanography and a specialisation in hydrography. I have worked at EMEPC since 2008, specifically in the ROV project. Besides piloting the ROV, the focus of my work is to maintain the informatics, and ensuring the integrating of different systems between the ship and the ROV.

I have a degree in electrical engineering and since 2014 I have been working at EMEPC (Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf), where I work as a ROV pilot. In this campaign I will be at ROV operations as pilot and its daily maintenance.

Renato Bettencourt works at IMAR - Portuguese Institute for Marine Research since 2006 as Senior ROV Pilot with lots of experience in multiple tasks involving maintenance and repair of systems. He collaborates with EMEPC and with the pilot team since 2010, performing multiple tasks involving hydraulics, system mechanics and operations planning, with a total of 102 hours of operating experience and a total of 290 sea days. He also collaborates as Technician/Operator of the Hyperbaric Medical Treatment System of the Public Hospital of Horta where he has about 700 hours of experience.

I am a laboratory technician working at the Department of Geosciences of the University of Evora. I have skills in rock sampling (onshore) and marine sediments. I've participated in different oceanographic campaigns in partnership with several institutions.
In leg_0 of iMirianilis2, I will help organizing and handle the samples collected by the ROV Luso.
I am very happy to be part of this team and looking forward to the whole experience.

I am a PhD student in microbiology with an interest in microbial communities from anthropogenic impacted sites, and the tools developed by these organisms. I graduated in biochemistry from the University of Coimbra and have been working in the field of microbiology for 8 years. On iMirabilis2 I will be responsible for processing water and sediment samples, from benthic environments, for further microbiological analysis. This is the first time I join such an adventure and I am excited to give my contribution and to learn more about the microbial communities most unlike those I usually study.

Nuno is a marine biologist with a Master degree in Integrated Ocean Studies. Throughout his career, he has been involved in several marine conservation projects and has been part of a large number of scientific expeditions, giving him a deep knowledge about ocean life. He authored dozens of scientific articles and 3 books on marine fauna, having contributed to many others. As a photographer, he specializes in marine conservation, using image as a tool for study and communication, aiming at conservation. His images have been widely published in books, newspapers and magazines and also exhibited globally, having several of them achieved awards in international competitions.

I´m Ricardo Capela, graduated in Aquatic Sciences at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar and currently finishing the PhD in Biology at the Faculty of Siences of Porto University. I’m developing my works at the Endocrine Disruptors and Environmental Contaminats group (EDEC), in the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), a research and training institution of the University of Porto.

I am a geologist and one of my main interests is the study of deep-sea mineralizations. During my master’s thesis I studied ferromanganese crusts from North Atlantic and at the moment, I am doing a professional internship with the aspiring Geoparque Oeste.

My participation in the iMirabilis_2 expedition is very important to me because it will be my first oceanographic expedition. During this expedition, I will be helping the EMEPC geological team. I hope we collect some ferromanganese samples, since these mineralizations are one of my main interest of future studies.  

I am an oceanographer with a master’s in Physical Oceanography. I integrate Colab+ATLANTIC in the Data Sciences sub-domain. I have extensive experience in data processing, qualification, and analysis, from in situ to remote sensing. Most to of time, I worked developing tools for monitoring, processing, and qualifying data from different sources, from oceanographic buoys to autonomous vehicles (glider). I am also a glider pilot. In this campaign, I have the interest to learn and better understand the ROV Luso operation and capabilities so that we can project ways to use this kind of equipment in offshore operations (inspections and maintenances), for instance, wind farms.

Kelsey made the dive to Deep Sea Ecology for her PhD after researching tropical corals for her Masters in Tropical Ecology and Management of Natural Resources at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. A member of University of Edinburgh’s Changing Oceans Research Group, Kelsey is an iAtlantic Fellow, One Ocean Hub Early Career Researcher, and the All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassador for the UK. Her research focuses on multiple stressor impacts on the habitat-building cold-water coral, Lophelia pertusa. This will be Kelsey’s fourth cruise and she is excited to be sailing on both legs of iMirabilis2 as the on-board outreach liaison and a member of the science team.

I am a geologist and one of my main interests is the study of deep-sea mineralizations. During my master’s thesis I studied ferromanganese crusts from North Atlantic and at the moment, I am doing a professional internship with the aspiring Geoparque Oeste.

My participation in the iMirabilis_2 expedition is very important to me because it will be my first oceanographic expedition. During this expedition, I will be helping the EMEPC geological team. I hope we collect some ferromanganese samples, since these mineralizations are one of my main interest of future studies.  

I have a degree in Biology and I am the Executive Director of the Projecto Vito Association.  Projecto Vitó is one of the largest environmental NGOs in Cabo Verde working in the conservation of marine and coastal resources.

I have a degree in Biological and Environmental Sciences and I am coordinator of the Cape Verde seabirds project in Fogo Island at the Projecto Vito Association. Projecto Vitó is an environmental NGO from Cape Verde that works on the conservation of marine and coastal resources.

I’m a self-employed biologist working as an ornithologist, conservationist and naturalist. I will be working in the seabird observation team on Leg 0. Our task on board will be focused on the census of oceanic birds like shearwaters and petrels, but we will enjoy watching any other animal (whales, turtles, fishes… are welcome too). I hope we will have very good weather to do that.  And, honestly, we will take lots of pictures, for sure!