Project Manager
It was a large garden full of flowers that sparked Samuel's interest in nature in his youth. So it was only logical that Samuel Carleial Fernandes, born in Fortaleza on the Brazilian coast in 1984, studied biology after school, specialising in botany. Parallel to his studies, Samuel's curiosity to see the world grew. He completed his master‘s degree in Mexico, after which he travelled to the Amazon for a year. There, Samuel experienced endless beauty, but also perceived the obvious consequences of the destruction. "Development is heading in an undesirable direction," the biologist says.
In 2013, Samuel Carleial Fernandes moved to Germany to study at the University of Konstanz. There, the Brazilian completed his doctorate on reproductive systems in plants. He worked at the university for five years, most recently handling plenty of data analyses and statistics. Over time, his desire of working hands-on in nature conservation again, grew. Since 2023, Samuel has been part of the European Green Belt team at EuroNatur. There, he deals with almost all aspects of the BESTbelt project, which promotes initiatives that conserve biodiversity along the former Iron Curtain and implement promising approaches to sustainable regional development.
"Until I discovered the EuroNatur job advert, I had never heard of the European Green Belt. Since then, I’ve become quite enthusiastic about the initiative, which has an exciting momentum and is stimulating something really big: a passage of valuable habitats across the entire continent. I'm happy to play a part in this," says Samuel.