Laura González García

Laura González García is a marine biologist and oceanographer from Galicia (Spain). She holds a PhD in Marine Science, Technology and Management from the University of Vigo finished in 2019. With expertise in habitat modelling and physical oceanography, her research focuses on cetacean ecology and distribution in the Atlantic and mainly in the Azores, where she lives since 2010. Her work highlights the importance of long-term data series for the study of cetaceans, and how tourism contribute this way to science. With extensive hands-on experience in the field with cetaceans, she has been working at the University of the Azores as a post-doctoral researcher since 2020, and is now leading the research efforts at Futurismo Azores Adventures, one of the main whale-watching companies in the Azores. She has participated in projects such as MONICET (regarding cetacean data linked to whale watching),LIFE-IP AZORES NATURA (citizen science and maritime tourism in the Azores), MARCET II (enhancing sustainable blue ecotourism in Macaronesia), or the K2D- Knowledge and Datafrom the Deep to the Space (smart subsea cables for ocean monitoring). She has supervised dozens of bachelor and master students in their internships and dissertations, has organized multiple scientific events, and maintains collaboration with cetacean researchers all over the Atlantic.