Airone Ringuissa

Molecular Biology lab coordinator

My name is Airone Ringuissa and I was born in the city of Chimoio in Manica province, I grew up in Sofala province in the districts of Chemba, Maringue, Caia, Marromeu, Gorongosa and Nhamatanda, where I completed my secondary education.

I liked Biology from a tender age, I have great appreciation for life in nature and today I try to understand the interaction between living beings with special attention to genetics.
I started my professional career when I graduated as a mid-level Laboratory Technician in 2013 at the Institute of Health Sciences in Chimoio, and in the following year 2014 I had a scholarship to study Applied Biology at Eduardo Mondlane University where I excelled in Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics and 2017 concluded my studies at the University of Lisbon at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, where I wrote my bachelor thesis that studied the antimicrobial and insecticidal effect of metabolites produced under fire effect of the plant species Brachystegia bohemii and Colophospermum mpane.

As a worker and student, it was a great challenge to manage time and be able to achieve the desired goals and also served as preparation for new challenges when I had the opportunity to manage the Clinical Laboratories of the Eduardo Mondlane University and support as a researcher in 2018. I also worked as advisor at the Ministry of Health in the area of ​​Molecular Biology, providing technical support in the creation of new Molecular Biology Laboratories, training of technical staff and creation of technical operational procedures for the various techniques of Molecular Biology. In 2020, I worked as a procurement manager for Laboratories at the Manhiça Health Research Center, Maputo.

In 2017 I met Matthew Jordan at the University of Lisbon and he told me about the incredible work being done in Gorongosa National Park and I found it very interesting. At the beginning of 2021 I applied for the Molecular Biology Workshop taking place in the Park over six days. The topic was very interesting to me because I needed to see the other side of Molecular Biology (Molecular Biology with application in taxonomy). Coincidentally, in the same period the Park announced a vacancy for the position of coordinator of the Molecular Biology Laboratory and I did not think twice about applying and shortly after my return from the workshop I received a proposal from the Gorongosa Restoration Project to be part of the park team. I confess that it was the happiest moment of my life because I started to see things falling into place perfectly. Now I know that being part of this project is not just a job as a duty but a moral obligation, so it is with great satisfaction and joy that I join the Gorongosa team.