João M. Neto (Mozambique, 1968) is a biologist. His background began at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), through areas as diverse as the dynamics of macroinvertebrate communities, nutrient mass balance in estuaries and seagrass meadows and saltmarsh dynamics. Those different research fields improved his knowledge in ecological modelling, eutrophication processes and restoration and management of estuarine systems, which were the basis of his Ph.D. research (Coimbra, Portugal). The participation in several international projects, and the cooperation with foreign research institutions and Universities, allowed him to increase his knowhow and experience on the management of catchment basins and coastal systems. During the latest years he has been involved in the Water Framework Directive implementation in Europe, namely on developing and harmonising tools for the assessment of the ecological quality of aquatic systems, through the intercalibration exercise. Apart from his participation on macroinvertebrate, phytoplankton and fish fauna biological quality elements, he was the coordinator on the Northeast Atlantic Geographical Intercalibration Group of the Macroalgae and Angiosperms working group, for coastal waters, and for Angiosperms (seagrass and saltmarsh), for transitional waters. He has been also involved in European research projects in the scope of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, particularly in developing new assessment tools and monitoring issues. He is also interested in the combination of new aquatic monitoring technologies and instrumentations for the obtention of environmental data, able to reduce ecological assessment reporting time. He is contracted at the University of Coimbra as Researcher in the Department of Life Sciences, developing his work at MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, in Coimbra (MARE-UC) and Figueira da Foz (MAREFOZ - Marine Ecosystems Lab), and at ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, aiming the integration of the ecological processes involved in estuarine and coastal systems. He is, since 2022, vice-coordinator of MAREFOZ - Marine Ecosystems Lab and integrates the GLOBE Portugal Advisory Board (Science: Ocean & Atmosphere). Since 2021 he is collaborator of the UC.Space working group in the University of Coimbra. João M. Neto is also representative of the University of Coimbra in the Strategic Council of the Natural Reserve of Berlengas (CERNB), integrated into the Academic party of the Council Elements.