Ana Cláudia Norte obtained her PhD in Ecology from the University of Coimbra in 2008. She is an avian ecologist specialised in conservation physiology. She has a special interest in host-parasite interactions, and how these are affected by global changes, habitat loss and host stress. She focuses on Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. wild hosts, especially birds, and factors that promote their role as hosts for ticks, and competence as reservoirs for Borrelia spirochaetes.