Leonardo L. Portes dos Santos

Leonardo Portes dos Santos, or “Leo,” as he is affectionately known at our firm, is originally from Minas Gerais, Brazil.  Leo earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Physics from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) as well his PhD in Sport Sciences, where multidisciplinary research focused on the nonlinear time-series analysis of human motor behavior.

In 2018, Leo joined the University of Western Australia (UWA) as a Research Fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. His work spanned multiple disciplines, blending statistical physics, complex systems science, and data analytics to solve real-world challenges in sectors such as resources, sports, and medical data analysis.  

Before joining Legacy Immigration, Leo held the position of Senior Research Fellow at the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Data Analytics for Resources and Environments (DARE) at UWA. He was also affiliated with UWA’s Centre for Exploration Targeting. His research focused on integrating network science, dynamical systems, nonlinear time series analysis, data visualization, and machine learning to develop advanced analytical tools. These tools were designed to improve decision-making and create innovative ways to visualize multimodal geophysical data, helping experts explore large datasets more effectively.

Along his career at UWA, Leo has contributed to data science projects for major companies like Rio Tinto, Anglo American, and Woodside. His work in these fields earned him recognition in 2021 with the prestigious Australian Global Talent Visa in Data Science and Digital Technology.

Leo is very empathetic to the struggles faced by our clients.  Having lived in different countries, Leo has embraced different foods, languages, and cultures.  Leo, himself, had to navigate the Australian immigration system, first for himself and most recently for his wife, Filipa.  Leo has first-hand experience of what it is like to be an immigrant having to assimilate into a new country.  He knows what it is like to be immersed in a new culture and has undergone similar struggles of finding employment, filing taxes, obtaining medical insurance, obtaining a driver’s license, and even marrying a “foreigner.”  

With his strong scientific background and native-speaking Portuguese, Leo is a treasured, “one-of-a-kind” asset to our firm, helping our clients, especially our National Interest Waiver clients and Portuguese-speaking clients.   

We are absolutely thrilled to have Leo join our team. With his soft-spoken, patient and calming demeanor, he will put you at ease from day one to help make this stressful process a smooth one.