Along with his wife Julia Rodrigues Lisboa, he studied the grasses of western India and published a special volume on the useful plants of the region as part of the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency in 1886.

This was published as a part of the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency edited by James Macnabb Campbell after whom Lisboa named a plant Arundinella campbelliana (now considered a synonym of Jansenella griffithiana).

[14] Lisboa was politically outspoken and was a supporter of Padroado[a] favouring the accountability of the King of Portugal and wrote in the bilingual newspaper Abelha de Bombaim.

[16] After the death of Lisboa at his home in Poona in 1897 following paralysis some months prior,[17] Julia established a Gold Medal at the Bombay University with an award of ₹6,000 (equivalent to ₹1.8 million or US$21,000 in 2023).

He was one of the witnesses who gave evidence to the Indian Hemp Commission[23] where he was in favour of moderate use of opium for relief under certain circumstances.