Samara Silva de Souza, Ph.D. in Genetics, Conservation and Evolutionary Biology (INPA), studies aquatic toxicology with a focus on the effects of contaminants such as hydrocarbons and pesticides and the combination with physical-chemical factors in water on the biological responses of fish, including molecular biology, oxidative stress and antioxidant mechanisms.
Susana Braz-Mota, PhD in Biology, Freshwater Biology and Inland Fisheries (INPA), is an expert in the physiological effects of metals, nanoparticles, herbicides and hydrocarbons on mortality, free radical production, antioxidant defense, oxidative stress and morphological changes of aquatic organisms. She also studies the mitochondrial biochemical mechanisms of respiration in fish exposed to high temperature and hypoxia.
Adalberto Val is a leading expert in the field of Amazonian fish biology. He has advised over 120 students and published over 220 articles. His books include Fishes of the Amazon and Their Environment, published by Springer. He has served as General Director of INPA (2006-2014) and has been coordinating the ADAPTA project since 2009. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, a member of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and an awardee of the Gran Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil).