Rui Coelho is a researcher at IPMA - Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (Portuguese Institute for Ocean and Atmosphere) and member of the Fisheries, Biodiversity and Conservation Group of CCMAR. Rui is based in IPMA-Olhão.

Rui graduated in Biology at the Univ. Lisbon (2000), has a PhD in Fisheries Biology (Univ. Algarve, 2007) and an MSc in Statistical Modelling (Univ. Évora, 2013). During 2008-2010 was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Florida Museum of Natural History (Univ. Florida, USA). Since 2014 has a Researcher contract (Investigador-FCT) in IPMA and is responsible for the swordfish, tunas and shark stocks in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as other bycatch such as sea turtles and birds.

Rui is currently the Chair of the Indian Ocean Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch (IOTC-WPEB) and the Coordinator of the Atlantic swordfish (ICCAT, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas).