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Helena M. Pato Granja Wahnon Araújo

Helena M. Pato Granja Wahnon Araújo

Summary

Helena Granja is a retired Full Professor of the Department of Earth Sciences, where she taught from 1984 to 2013. Before that, she worked as a senior technician at the Environmental Studies Service of the Secretary of State for the Environment (1977–1984). She completed a third-cycle thesis at the Université de Bordeaux (1984), on the geomorphology, sedimentology and geochemistry of the Ria Formosa, received her PhD in Geology (Sedimentology and Geomorphology) from the University of Minho (1991) and obtained her Habilitation in 2004.

Her research addresses the dynamics and Holocene evolution of the coast of northwestern Portugal: pebble beaches, estuaries and coastal lagoons, coastal erosion and risk, and the relationship between environmental change and human settlement, including the coastal archaeology of Esposende.

She has taken part in projects such as FMI 5000 (fluvial-marine interactions over the last 5000 years), the Apúlia lagoon as a geo-indicator, ECORISK and INNOVMAR, and has been a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of Madeira (CIIMAR-Madeira) since 2013.

Compiled from: CIÊNCIAVITAE, ORCID

Research interests

  • Coastal geomorphology and dynamics
  • Sedimentology
  • Holocene coastal evolution
  • Coastal erosion and risk
  • Estuaries and coastal lagoons
  • Coastal geoarchaeology

Education

  • 2004
    Habilitation in Geology
    University of Minho
  • 1991
    PhD in Geology (Sedimentology and Geomorphology)
    University of Minho
    Thesis: «Repensar a Geodinâmica da Zona Costeira: o Passado e o Presente; Que Futuro? (o Minho e o Douro Litoral)»
  • 1984
    Third-cycle thesis
    Université de Bordeaux, France
    Thesis: «Étude géomorphologique, sédimentologique et géochimique de la ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal»

Current position

  • 2013 –
    Researcher
    Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of Madeira (CIIMAR-Madeira)

Recent publications

  1. Holocene evolution of the Cávado estuary (NW Portugal). Quaternary International, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2022.02.032
  2. Methods for coastal monitoring and erosion risk assessment: two Portuguese case studies. Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada, 2015. doi:10.5894/rgci490
  3. Changing environments and human settlement during Mid-Holocene in Rio de Moinhos beach (Esposende Northern Portugal). Estudos do Quaternário / Quaternary Studies, 2016. doi:10.30893/eq.v0i14.118
  4. Caracterização da morfodinâmica de praias sob influência de cilindros geossintéticos: caso de estudo da praia de Ofir, Portugal. Revista Eletrônica de Gestão e Tecnologias Ambientais, 2020. doi:10.9771/gesta.v8i1.36764
  5. Late Holocene natural and man induced environmental changes in the Western Iberian coast: acessing forcing factors. Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT), 2019. doi:10.33787/ceg20190015
  6. Baetic shipwrecks in the coast of Esposende (North Portugal) = Naufragios béticos en la costa de Esposende (norte de Portugal). Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT), 2016.

Publications since 2015 (ORCID and OpenAlex), ordered by the impact of the journal or series (two-year mean citedness in OpenAlex).

Full list of publications on ORCID

Information compiled from public sources: CIÊNCIAVITAE, ORCID, OpenAlex, accessed on 20-10-2026. To correct or complete this profile, use the website’s content manager or contact the Department’s Director.