Researcher Verónica Ferreira receives international award for scientific contribution in editorial review
Verónica Ferreira, a researcher at MARE - Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Coimbra, has been awarded the Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award 2025 for her rigorous assessment of submissions and meticulous management of the peer review process, ensuring the scientific accuracy of published content as an Associate Editor of the journal Hydrobiologia.
The Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award is an annual distinction granted to Associate Editors who excel in evaluating scientific manuscripts and managing the peer review process with precision, safeguarding the quality and reliability of scientific literature. This award highlights the importance of editorial review in validating scientific knowledge, promoting information integrity and research credibility.
Recognitions like this reinforce the value of peer review, an essential process in ensuring that scientific research meets the highest quality standards. Editors play a critical role in selecting, evaluating, and refining manuscripts, directly influencing the strength and progress of knowledge. The acknowledgment of Verónica Ferreira reflects her commitment to scientific excellence, as well as the essential role of reviewers in building a more rigorous and transparent scientific community.
About Verónica
A specialist in stream ecology, Verónica Ferreira has been studying the effects of natural and human-driven environmental changes on aquatic ecosystems for over 20 years. She graduated in Biology from the University of Coimbra in 2002 and completed her Ph.D. in Ecology in 2007 at the same institution. Following her doctorate, she pursued two postdoctoral fellowships, collaborating with international research institutions, including CNRS (France), the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), and Royal Holloway University of London (England), where she examined the impact of human activities on stream ecosystems.
Currently an Auxiliary Researcher at MARE - UC, she conducts research on the effects of forest change, nutrient enrichment, global warming, and drought on freshwater ecosystem functionality. She has authored over 96 scientific articles in international journals, with an h-index of 41 and more than 7,000 citations, participating in 21 research projects (5 as Principal Investigator). Since 2014, she has served as Associate Editor of Hydrobiologia, and since 2020, as Associate Editor of Functional Ecology. Beyond academia, she is Vice President of the AIL-Iberian Association of Limnology and PROAQUA-Association for the Promotion of Knowledge in Aquatic Sciences, actively engaging in science communication through seminars, exhibitions, and events for the general public.
The awarding of this prestigious prize reinforces the importance of editorial work in science and highlights Verónica Ferreira’s contribution to advancing ecological knowledge, further solidifying MARE's reputation for scientific excellence.