Speaker 1: Leandro Vieira
Leandro is a professor at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco.  His expertise lies with taxonomy, systematics and bioinvasion of bryozoans. He did his Masters and Phd at the Universidade de Sao Paulo.

Seminar title: Bryozoa: um filo esquecido

Speaker 2: Joanne Porter
Joanne is an Associate Professor at Heriot Watt University, Orkney Island campus, with an expertise in bryozoan ecology and biodiversity, biofouling and non-native species. She did her undergraduate degree at Newcastle University and her PhD at Swansea University. Since then she has held lecturing positions at Aberystwyth University most recently at Heriot Watt University.

Seminar title: Biodiversity, characterization and hydrodynamic consequences of marine fouling communities on marine renewable energy infrastructure in the Orkney Islands archipelago, Scotland, UK

Speaker 3: Andrea Waeschenbach
Andrea is a Researcher at the Natural History Museum London with an expertise in molecular phylogenetics of bryozoans and tapeworms. She did her undergraduate and PhD at Swansea University and has since worked at the NHM.

Seminar title: Building the tree of life of bryozoans

Why are they visiting the Universidade Federal da Bahia?
They have recently been awarded a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust on ‘Molecules meet fossils – an integrated approach to studying palaeodiversity’. A central goal of the project is the construction of a family-level molecular phylogeny of cheilostome bryozoans, which requires the collection of fresh tissue samples. They are here to collaborate with Ana Carolina Almeida and her students Jamile and Alesson and Leandro’s student Adelia Alliz in obtaining fresh material for DNA sequencing and for discussing ideas of future projects.