My name is Diogo Verissimo, I was born on the 7th of September in Lisbon, Portugal .
From an early age I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to the preservation of biodiversity and as such it was without surprise that I my first conservation related job at the age of 16, working as a educator and later a guide at the Lisbon Zoo’s educational department, where I worked for more than 5 years. My taste for biology grew and in 2002 I enrolled in the Biology degree program at the University of Lisbon.
While taking my degree I took several internships and courses abroad in places like Mexico, Uganda or Sri Lanka.These oportunities opened my eyes to the true reality of conservation work in developing countires and made me increasingly willing to contribute. I continued my studies by completing a Masters in Conservation Biology at the Durrell Institute of Conservation Biology (DICE), Kent, UK. My Masters thesis entitled “What makes a flagship species: A case study on the birds of Seychelles” is a mixture of marketing, economics and conservation and investigates the potential role of birds species as flagships in the Seychelles Islands.
I went on to work for Global Vision International (GVI) Costa Rica, based at Tortuguero, Costa Rica as Head of Science during 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. There I was also the project manager for the Playa Norte Marine Turtle Conservation and Monitoring Programme and Head of Science for the Wildlife Expedition. After leaving I kept a link with GVI as research associate. In 2009 I was also a team member in the Lesser Florican Community Leadership Programme taking place in Madhya Pradesh, India.
I am currently a PhD student at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, UK.