Andreia-Braga Henriques appointed Regional Fisheries Director of the Regional Government of the Azores

Andreia Braga-Henriques, a member of MARE (MARE-Madeira), has been appointed to the post of Regional Fisheries Director of the Regional Government of the Azores.

According to the Order of Appointment, the appointment is justified by her ‘training, recognised technical and leadership skills, as well as her experience and relevant professional activity’.

With a PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of the Azores and a master's degree in Applied Ecology from the University of Porto, Andreia Braga-Henriques works on biodiversity observation and deep sea mapping using marine robotic systems.

Her work allows her to join the ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) group dedicated to the biology and conservation of deep-sea habitats in the North Atlantic (WGDEC). She is also Chair of the ICES group on Integrated Assessment of the Azores, an invited member of the Scientific Committee of the Deep Madeira Project (Deep-ML), a member of the Regional Scientific Research Committee for the UN-backed Challenger 150 programme, and an associate curator at the Natural History Museum of Funchal, studying mesophotic corals (they live in environments where sunlight is limited) and deep-sea corals.

Over the last 15 years, Andreia has been a member of the expert panel on coral taxonomy, led by the University of Plymouth, and has taken part in several international scientific expeditions in the North Atlantic. She is currently a permanent employee of the Regional Secretariat for the Sea and Fisheries of the Government of the Azores, a position that enabled her to be appointed to this new post.