Hello there...Paulo Catry!

Submitted by Michi on 12 August 2024.

Photo above: black-browed albatrosses on Steeple Jason, Falkland Islands. Picture taken by JP Granadeiro. 

Meet Paulo Catry, JAB subject editor with expertise in marine ecology. Read the short interview with Paulo below and learn about his current research projects and what he finds callenging about field work.

Personal webpage

You are a professor at the Marine and Environmental Sciences Center (Ispa – Instituto Universitário) in Lisbon with marine ecology and seabirds as your key area of expertise. What is your research focus right now?

Keeping two long-term studies going (both now 21 years-old) on the demography and general ecology of two seabirds (black-browed albatrosses in the Falkland Islands and Cory’s shearwaters in the Selvagens – Portugal), plus several projects with sea turtles takes most of my research time but allows looking at many different questions, too. The main focus is on spatial ecology and migratory behaviour (both for birds and for turtles). 

Seabirds often breed in remote islands that can be difficult to access and where it can be challenging to work. What is the greatest challenge in your field work?

I cannot see fieldwork as challenging, it’s always such a pleasure. We work mostly in rather remote locations, and it may easily take one week of travel (plus stopovers) to get from some of our albatross study sites back to office in Lisbon. Fundraising to cover the expensive logistics (and all the rest), that’s the challenge!

Enough about work - what do you enjoy doing most in your spare time?

Diving, birdwatching, reading, writing, looking after trees in a family’s piece of land. About once a year, I go for a few days by myself (occasionally with my son) to the mountains looking for wolves. It’s a game and it’s not easy, but I sometimes do find them: adults, pups, and their prey.

What are you looking most forward to over the next year (personally or professionally)?

In 2025, I hope to complete the work on a book on the ecology and conservation of the marine turtles of West Africa. This is a collaborative effort with partners in various African countries, and I get to learn a lot.

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