We have an amazing group of people working in our lab, including undergraduate and graduate students with diverse backgrounds. Working with people who are engaged in undertaking research on cephalopods is the key to our group’s unity and cooperation. Our overall goal is to motivate and support students in a way that helps them grow personally and scientifically through the study of these incredibly intelligent and captivating mollusks.
If you are interested in joining our lab, please get in contact with us.
Meet our current group members below.
Erica A. G. Vidal
Founder & Principal investigator, Professor of Biological Oceanography and Ecology
Erica Vidal is an Oceanographer with both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Biological Oceanography, the latter obtained in 2000 at Texas A&M University, USA. Her research interests focus on the developmental biology, ecology and culture of cephalopod early life stages. More specifically, her research explores the morphological and ecological adaptations of paralarvae by integrating ecology and physiological mechanisms. Currently, she is interested in assessing the ways in which paralarvae learning capabilities are shaped by exogenous factors.
Paulo Soares
Laboratory Technician
Paulo Soares is a Biologist, lover of the sea and its ecological interactions. He graduated in Biology at the Catholic University of Paraná, in Curitiba (2000). He is our lab technician and is interested in improving and optimizing the culture techniques used in the laboratory. He enjoys teamwork and investigating how to solve the problems arising in his workplace. He also loves to work with the amazing cephalopods and even more with the people who actively share our lab daily.
E-mail: juniorbio2000@yahoo.com.br Lattes Curriculum
University of Paraná, Brazil
Danielle Ortiz de Ortiz
Ph.D Student
Danielle is a PhD student in Coastal and Oceanic Systems at UFPR, with a degree in Oceanography and an M.Sc in Biological Oceanography, both at the University of Rio Grande (FURG). She has experience in copepod culture, growth experiments, biomass and secondary production. Danielle's research will evaluate the viability of using copepods as a live food for rearing octopus paralarvae. In addition, she will focus on understanding the factors that determine predatory behavior in octopus paralarvae, using zooplankton as prey.
E-mail: danielleortizz@gmail.com Lattes Curriculum
University of Paraná, Brazil
Gabrielle Regmont
Graduated in Oceanography
Gabrielle is graduated in Oceanography at UFPR. She has worked with bivalves, but now wants conduct behavioral studies with more advanced mollusks, precisely with octopus embryos and paralarvae.
E-mail: gabrielleregmont@gmail.com
University of Paraná, Brazil
Aline Nakamori
Oceanography Undergraduate Student
Aline Nakamori is an undergraduate student of Oceanography at UFPR and has a technical degree in business administration and in computer science support. She is especially passionate about the cognitive capacity of cephalopods and intends to learn more about their particularities, and the influence of environmental factors on the diversity and survival of their paralarvae.
University of Paraná, Brazil
Irina D. Ozogovski
Oceanography Undergraduate Student
Irina is an undergraduate student of Oceanography at the University of Paraná (UFPR) and has interest in the biological area of oceanography, particularly in ecology. She is fascinated by animals and plants, especially by the incredible capacity of camouflage and bioluminescence of cephalopods.
E-mail: irina.ozogovski@gmail.com
University of Paraná, Brazil