Lígia has a background in microbiology and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering/Astrobiology from the MIT Portugal Program/Técnico. She is interested in studying biosignatures focusing on biological pigments, extreme environments, and planetary field analogs. Lígia’s interests extend to innovation and space biology. In 2019, Lígia was the co-author of the winning space biology payload project that flew on board the New Shepard (Blue Origin) to study the effect of microgravity on photosynthesis. In 2022 she was the co-author of a second winning payload project to study the effect of the space environment on medical devices for women’s health, which will fly later in 2022 on board of the rocket Baltasar (Técnico, Portugal). In 2022, Lígia was the only Portuguese awarded a Fulbright Schuman for scholars and is currently a researcher at Cornell University working with prof. Lisa Kaltenegger in the creation of tools for the search of biosignatures in the cosmos.