M. João Botelho earned a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lisbon in 2009 and a PhD in Environment from the NOVA University of Lisbon in 2014. She is a researcher at the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), Division of Oceanography and Marine Environment, where she heads the National Reference Laboratory for Marine Toxins. In her current position she is accountable for the toxin analytical chemistry testing in shellfish from harvesting areas in Portugal. She belongs to the research group of Contaminant Pathways in Marine Environment at Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR). She specializes in the accumulation and biotransformation mechanisms of marine toxins in bivalves; her research focuses on the availability and pathways of these compounds in the marine environment, as well as the development of biosensors for toxin detection. M. João participated in more than 30 research projects and contracts and published more than 45 peer-reviewed articles.