Teresa is a Portuguese Architect and an Assistant Professor with Habilitation in Architecture at the Lisbon University Institute ISCTE-IUL (since 2002), at the Department of Architecture and Urbanism. She is a Senior Researcher at DINÂMIA'CET-IUL Research Centre where she coordinated Project MEMO - Evolution of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area Metabolism. Lessons towards a Sustainable Urban Future D'C Team, financed by the Portuguese Science Foundation - PTDC/EMS-ENE/2197/2012.

At present she coordinates D'C Research Team for the Research Project SPLACH Spatial Planning for Change, financed by the Program Portugal 2020, which integrates also the University of Porto and University of Aveiro.

She was Vice Director for the Department of Architecture and Urbanism at ISCTE-IUL (2013-2016) and the ERASMUS Coordinator for the Department of Architecture and Urbanism (2002-2016). At present she is a member of the General Council of ISCTE-IUL. She was a member of ISCTE Scientific Council (2016-2019). She was co-founder of the Portuguese-language Network on Urban Morphology (PNUM), and its president  bewteen 2015 and 2018. PNUM is a regional Network of ISUF (International Seminar on Urban Form). She was a visiting Professor at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (July 2013), at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya TECH (UPC), Barcelona, Spain (2011), University of Florence and University of Athens.

Her current research interests are related to the study of Urban Form, Urban and Social Metabolism, Ecological Urbanism, Sustainability. Education and Sustainability in Higher Education.

Teresa was awarded Women in Science 2019, for the field of Architecture, by Ciência Viva (http://www.cienciaviva.pt/mulheresnaciencia/index.asp).