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Dr. María Cristina Oddone has studied elasmobranch biology for over 25 years. She received an MS in biological oceanography from the Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) in Brazil, and a PhD in zoology from the Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho. She carried out postdoctoral research in elasmobranch comparative physiology at the Instituto de Ciências Biológicas at FURG, where she is now an Adjunct Professor in the Setor de Morfologia. There, she founded and leads the Laboratório de Pesquisa em Chondrichthyes, mentoring graduate and postgraduate students in developmental biology and embryology, reproduction, taxonomy, morphology, and conservation. She also acts as curator of the chondrichthyan collection of FURG.

María Cristina began her research on elasmobranch fishes as an undergraduate at the Instituto Nacional de Pesca in Montevideo, Uruguay, studying the population structure and reproduction of demersal sharks and skates from the Argentinean Uruguayan Common Fishing Zone. During her MS research in Brazil, mentored by Professor Carolus Maria Vooren, she became fascinated by the diversity of skate egg capsules washed ashore at Cassino Beach, Rio Grande, and in elasmobranch reproduction and embryology, particularly oviparity. More recently, in collaboration with other universities and research centers abroad, her research has expanded to explore comparative morphology and other reproductive modes in chondrichthyan fishes. She has published more than 60 scientific articles and 12 book chapters.

María Cristina joined the Editorial Board of Environmental Biology of Fishes in 2021. She co-founded the Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences (PanamJAS) in 2006, co-editing a special issue on chondrichthyan fishes in 2009 and serving as a subject editor until 2016. María Cristina actively participates in university extension. The project Tubarões de Mochila (“Backpack Sharks”) visits schools to teach young children how to know, respect, and protect sharks and their relatives in Southern Brazil, especially those threatened with extinction.