Laís Chaves

With a huge passion for the planet's biodiversity that ultimately turned into a fight for conservation, Laís has been thoroughly active in this area throughout her entire graduation period. Several projects involving the conservation of freshwater fishes and dolphins are part of her trajectory in the laboratories of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where she is pursuing her bachelor's degree in Ecology. She has also been active outside academia, visiting schools where environmental education mechanisms are used and delivering lectures in protected areas.

Since Laís recently joined the ECoMAR project, she is currently in the initial phases of her own research project and has shown great interest in studying animal social structures, with a major focus on the *Somalia guianensis* species found in Sepetiba Bay and Ilha Grande Bay. The preservation of the species is intricately linked to the dynamics of their social structure because vital elements such as gene flow, spatial patterns, and fitness are modulated by the intricacies of animal societies.

Therefore, all these factors bring her here today to help with the conservation of Peale’s dolphin, a very common species in the coastal waters of the Strait of Magellan. Even though they are part of everyday life, these animals are threatened by the lack of information about their ecological parameters and behaviour, which makes it difficult to conduct the necessary studies to ensure their conservation.