Maria Paula Mendes is a researcher at the CERIS research unit – “Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability”- IST-ID.

She has a doctorate and master's degree in Earth Resources from IST and is an Eng. of Water Resources by the University of Évora.

She is the coordinator of the “ReDuCe - Use of Disposable Mask Waste in Composites with various formulations" project, distinguished with Alfredo da Silva Scientific Research Award (June 2021) in the “Entrepreneurship” category by the Amélia de Mello's Foundation and the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) Portugal.

She is currently the local researcher coordinator of the project “Development of Professional Courses in Sustainable Water Management” (ERAMUS+), and she is part of the team of two international projects: “Environmental Management in the Middle East: Spatial Approaches” (ERAMUS+) and “EFFICACY- Energy eFFiciency buIlding and CirculaR eConomY for thermal insulating solutions” (EEA Grant).

She is president of the Expert Commission for Groundwater of APRH.

Her research interests are data-driven methods, temporal and spatial data analysis, climate change and climate variability, and water resources.