Rita Mendes graduated in 2012 in Biological Sciences and Health by the University of Azores, and completed her master degree in Biology and Water Quality Management in 2012 on the Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto. Currently, she is a postgraduated researcher in the Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics group at CIIMAR. Her research interests focus on the study of cyanobacteria and related toxins, molecular biology and environmental toxicology, especially when applied to freshwater systems.