On the past 5th May, PRIMUS member Vanda Brotas was the first guest featured on Azul (Blue), a new podcast aired by the national newspaper Público. In addition to being a marine biologist, Full Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, and an important reference in the international phytoplankton community, Vanda is also keen into writing fiction for children. In the course of this conversation with the journalist Teresa Firmino, one of the editors of Azul, Vanda talks about her books and explores the importance of attributing an economic value to nature, an idea that first appeared in a Nature article by a team of American scientists led by Robert Costanza, in 1997.
In her books “A Revolta da Natureza in Brimsa” (The Nature's Revolt in Brimsa) and “A Menina que Via o Mar de Várias Cores” (The girl who could see the sea with different colours), Vanda always combines adventures with the dissemination of science, usually targeting a younger audience. Among the main messages that she wants to deliver is on the important role of phytoplankton in the marine ecosystem and how Earth Observation satellites help us to understand its dynamics.
For listening to the podcast Azul, click here.
If you are curious about The girl who could see the sea with different colours, click here.