Focas is a doctoral researcher in the LUDEMO project “Land Use, Sustainability, and Democratic Backsliding” led by Prof. Patrick Meyfroidt. His research aims to comprehend how democratic backsliding affects and is affected by land use changes and related sustainability issues in Mozambique. He has a BSc (Hons) in Forest Engineering (2020) and an MSc in Forest Sciences-Economics and Forest Management Branch (2023) from Eduardo Mondlane University. His expertise spans multiple disciplines, including Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation, Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing, Land Change Science, Plant Taxonomy, and Ethnobotany. With experience in scientific research, Focas has contributed to understanding the effects of anthropogenic and climate change-related factors on plant biodiversity, ecosystem services, land use and land cover changes, ecological connectivity of forest patches, ecosystem functioning, and landscape structure in Mozambique.