I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography from University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, with a final project on crustaceans' biodiversity and community description from whale falls in the Atlantic Ocean with Prof. Dr. Paulo Sumida. After graduation, I got funding from FAPESP, a Brazilian foundation, to keep doing research for one more year in Dr. Sumida's lab. During that year, I studied genetic connectivity between chemosynthetic ecosystems of galatheids and the deep-sea shrimp Alvinocaris muricola in the Atlantic through DNA barcoding. During my undergraduate and that one year, I had many opportunities at sea to collect and retrieve samples, and had plenty of lab work time.

I am currently studying methane seeps influence on trophic dynamics of seep and background communities off the coast of Costa Rica. My aim is to understand how these ecosystems transition from active to inactive and how they interact with their surroundings. More general interests are: deep sea, chemosynthetic ecosystems, benthic ecology and dynamics, invertebrates, mainly crustaceans.

Pereira, O. S., Shimabukuro, M., Bernardino, A. F. & Sumida, P. Y. G. Occurence of Alvinocaris muricola in whale bones from the SW Atlantic: molecular proximity to the Atlantic Equatorial Belt population. (in prep)

Fujikura, K., Yamanaka, T., Sumida, P. Y. G., Bernardino, A. F., Pereira, O. S., Kanehara, T., Nagano, Y., Nakayama, C. R., Nobrega, M., Pellizari, V. H., Shigeno, S., Yoshida, T., Zhang, J. & Kitazato, H. (2017) Discovery of asphalt seeps in the deep Southwest Atlantic off Brazil. Deep-Sea Research II, 146, 35-44.

I discovered a new passion for running in 2017, when I finished my first Half Marathon. San Diego turned out to be a great location to go for a run with a full calendar of street races from 5k to marathons. I also have advanced scuba diving certificate and I am very passionate about it. I enjoy being outdoors, swimming and, as a typical Brazilian, playing soccer.