After completing her master’s degree in law at the University of Zurich in 2015 and gaining initial experience in the private sector, Valérie Pimentel first dealt with environmental issues as a research assistant at the Swiss embassy in Costa Rica.

Back in Europe, she discovered her passion for the underwater world in Mallorca and started to work as a project coordinator for OceanCares partner organisation Save The Med Foundation. Through her work, she became aware of the importance of in-depth legal knowledge in the engagement for healthy seas, which led her to pursue a master’s degree in environmental law at the University of Tarragona.

Valérie Pimentel joined OceanCare as part of her master’s thesis on the subject of “Feasibility of a mandatory speed limit for marine transport to reduce the hazard of collisions and underwater noise to marine biodiversity”. She has been working alongside her colleagues at OceanCare since January 2023 for a paradigm shift in the international, European and Spanish legal system.

Valérie Pimentel focuses on marine protected areas that provide genuine protection for marine biodiversity and effectively regulated underwater noise in light of the expanding “blue economy”.