By Marta Bernardino, Co-Founder of Trovador 

Growing up in the countryside of Portugal, I experienced the drastic change of ecosystem destruction, from beach pollution to deforestation. Portugal has now lost over 80% of its original canopy due to wildfires and illegal logging, while having one ofthe vastest unprotected sea territories in the European Union. Coming from a family of farmers and fishermen, this meant a lot of uncertainty for tomorrow.

Growing up there, it meant that my playground was the trees that I could climb, and the waves that I could chase. But with climate change, there was no place to play, so I started to build my own toys, and in between gathering recycled plastic and motor fans, I built my first robot when I was 9. For the past 10 years, I have been self- teaching myself in robotics, but because nature is one of the biggest economic backbones of my community, I decided to tackle it with my own hands, by merging robotics with climate remediation and adaptation. Because my mission is to build a future where the next generations have the same playground I used to have, and a home where they don’t have to worry about tomorrow.

My portfolio ranges from designing a surface water robot to combat offshore plastic pollution to co-developing a seaweed monitoring robotic system that tracks biomass growth and water quality for underwater kelp habitat restoration.

One of my proudest projects is SONDA, a robotic buoy I co-developed to fight underwater noise pollution. Using beam technology and noise-cancelling techniques, SONDA reduces noise in marine protected areas, enhancing fish fertility and conserving cetacean communication. After Lisbon was named the noise capital of the EU, increased whale strandings and vessel collisions highlighted the urgent need for underwater peace. In response, SONDA was funded by Grow NY and EVentures and is set to be deployed in the near future.

Additionally, I am the founder of Trovador, a startup developing the first large-scale reforestation robots to restore Portugal’s landscapes. Trovador began with a bold idea and a €15 prototype built from recycled parts two years ago. Today, I lead a growing team and have deployed our second successful pilot in Portugal.

Through this work, I have been honored with nominations as a Leader in Sustainable Robotics in the EU and a Conservation Roboticist at National Geographic.