Sara Cardigos

Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center
Jere A. Chase Ocean Engineering Lab
24 Colovos Road
Durham, New Hampshire 03824

Sara Cardigos is currently working as a Data Processor for the Seabed2030 project in the New Hampshire Regional Center of the Arctic & North Pacific Ocean.

Sara was born in 1996 on Faial Island, in the Portuguese Azores archipelago. In 2014, she graduated from Aveiro University on the Portuguese mainland with a degree in Meteorology, Oceanography and Geophysics. Her scientific career began in the Sado Estuary with Portuguese Navy oceanography vessels and the University of Porto’s autonomous underwater vehicles.

In 2018, sponsored by the organizers, Sara was invited to attend the MTS/IEEE OCEANS 2018 Student Poster Competition in Charleston, South Carolina (USA), where she won the 3rd prize for her work titled, “Using LAUVs in Highly Dynamic Environments: Influence of the Tidal Estuarine Outflow in the Thermocline Structure.” During an internship at the GIS Office of the Azorean Government’s Department of Sea Affairs in 2021, she concluded her master's degree in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, specializing in physical oceanography.

Later in 2021, Sara was awarded a Nippon Foundation/GEBCO Training Program scholarship, allowing her to pursue a postgraduate certificate in Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, obtaining a FIG/IHO/ICA Category A certification and becoming an alumni of GEBCO'18. As part of this program, Sara completed an internship aboard the DSSV Pressure Drop through "Map the Gaps." During this two-month voyage across the Sea of Japan in the Pacific, she was able to contribute to the project’s mission by mapping the seafloor. 

In April 2023, Sara took part in a month-long hydrographic survey in Ecuador, from the city of Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands, aboard BAE Orion – a hydrographic vessel of the Ecuadorian Navy. 

Currently, she is based in Durham, New Hampshire. Her hobbies include outdoor activities like hiking, swimming, gardening, and – always – appreciating the sunset.