The three disciplines I work across.
Marine science
10+ years across coastal ecosystems, deep-sea geochemistry and blue carbon, at research institutions in Brazil and Germany.
Data & AI architecture
Designing practical AI systems for social and environmental work. RAG architectures, agents and data infrastructure.
Communication & storytelling
Documentaries, keynotes and public conversation that hold science, technology and ancestral knowledge in the same frame.
Mangrove fieldwork in Garapuá, Bahia, Brazil. Photo by Rafael Batista
Science from the ground up.
I grew up in a favela in São Gonçalo, on the working-class edge of Guanabara Bay, across the water from Rio's famous postcards. The bay was my playground long before it became my subject, and the reason I chose oceanography. I had been watching its tides, its seasons and the occasional oil slick1 long before I had the words for any of it.
Books were where I went to think. My aptitude for maths, much of it self-taught, earned me a scholarship from Instituto JCA2, which led me to one of the city's best private high schools.
The following years at UERJ were a mix of classes, part-time jobs and field trips. Getting by took constant juggling. I learned to read ocean dynamics before I learned to swim.
Education eventually brought me to Germany. An M.Sc. in Marine Geosciences at Kiel University, in partnership with BGR in Hannover. Institutions I had only encountered in academic papers became places where I researched.
When the pandemic slowed everything down, it gave me space to ask what I actually wanted to build. Benthos3 grew out of that question. In oceanography, the benthos is the community of organisms living on the seafloor, the foundation of marine ecosystems. It felt like a fitting name for the next chapter.
Long before academia, São Gonçalo taught me how to observe, adapt and build with what was available. That instinct still shapes how I work.
A few things I've helped to shape.
Founding, advising, mentoring, speaking.
Benthos.ai
A non-profit developing practical, inclusive AI tools for biodiversity and conservation. I lead strategy, product development, fundraising and legal operations for Benthos, a German gGmbH, while coordinating a remote team. Benthos is backed by EXIST-Women and the Berlin Startup Scholarship.
Roots & Algorithms
A documentary and digital storytelling series I co-direct with Lucas Pereira, highlighting community knowledge in conversation with science and technology. Official selections include Rio Ocean Week, FINCCA and the ICJ International Film Award.
Instituto JCA
Board member of the educational NGO that has supported more than 6,000 working-class young people in Rio. Once a scholarship student there myself, I now help shape its strategic direction.
ChangemakerXchange.AI
Advisory Committee member, mentoring the Latin America cohort. The programme works with young changemakers in MENA, Europe and Latin America on adopting AI mindfully and ethically for social and environmental impact.
10+ keynotes worldwide
On responsible AI at the intersection of ocean conservation and social good. Speaking engagements include Rise of AI Berlin, Bitkom AIDAQ, AI Weekend Croatia, the Arab-German Business Forum and the Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit.
Workshops & Capacity Building
Career and technology workshops for first-generation students and young people from working-class backgrounds. I also facilitate sessions on ethical community engagement for researchers and practitioners.
Mangrove blue carbon · NEMA
Quantifying mangrove carbon stocks through sediment cores and biomass processing. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Marine geochemistry · GEOMAR
Strontium isotope analysis on deep-sea gypsum from submarine mud volcanoes. Kiel, Germany.
Kaimana Vent Field · BGR
M.Sc. research on the thermal and chemical dynamics of an Indonesian deep-sea hydrothermal field. Hannover, Germany.
A few words from people I've worked with.
Francielly serves as an advisory committee member for CXC.AI, a programme designed to support young changemakers in mindfully and ethically integrating AI for social good. She provided valuable input in developing the programme strategy, shaping it from the ground up and ensuring its elements represent young changemakers from an ethical and socially responsible perspective.
I came in looking for something more technical, but what I found was a warm and strategic eye that made all the difference. Francielly helped me organise my thinking, design the project with more intention and approach decisions more critically. Without a doubt, the mentorship was a turning point for the gender-responsive budgeting tool we are developing.
Working on something that needs a different lens?
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