Sara Rodrigues is an Auxiliary Researcher at the Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), University of Minho (Portugal), and holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Porto. She is a trained biologist with expertise in aquatic ecotoxicology, freshwater ecology, and environmental risk assessment. Her research focuses on the impacts of emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, aromatic amines, and microplastics, on non-target aquatic organisms, using multi-species and multi-biomarker approaches. She combines standardized toxicity testing with mechanistic endpoints, including oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, energy metabolism, and histopathology, aiming to improve the ecological relevance of current assessment frameworks. A key component of her work is evaluating contaminant effects under climate-change-related stressors, particularly warming and pH variation, supporting more realistic predictions of environmental impacts. She is also involved in projects focused on freshwater quality assessment and ecological status evaluation, integrating biological indicators (e.g., macroinvertebrate communities) with effect-based tools to support monitoring and management. Sara participates in national and international funded projects, contributes actively to scientific publishing and peer review, and is engaged in supervision, teaching, and science outreach promoting freshwater biodiversity and sustainable water management.