Researchers - Università Politecnica delle Marche

Researcher in analytical chemistry (CHIM 01). Her research activity is focussed on the determination of organic and inorganic pollutants in different environmental matrices (seawater, sediments, marine organisms). She takes part to the INTERREG ADSWIM project (Managed use of treated urban wastewater for the quality of the Adriatic Sea) and to different PNRA (National Antarctic Research Program) projects.

Expert in benthic biology and ecology, both in coastal and deep environments. The research activities are focused on biodiversity distribution, relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, in relation to natural and anthropogenic pressures. Research activities fall within the scope of national and international projects dedicated to exploration (EU HERMES), anthropogenic impact analysis (EU HERMIONE, FIRB HI-BEF), repercussions on the Marine Strategy (EU DEVOTES and IDEM), protection and restoration of marine ecosystems (EU MERCES and AFRIMED).

I am an expert in Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics in relation to various fields of the Engineering, with specific attention to Coastal and Offshore Engineering. My research focuses on the modeling of the coastal hydro-morphodynamics, on turbulence theory and fluid-structure interactions. My research activities are much related to national and international research projects dedicated to the river-sea interactions (ONRG MORSE e EsCoSed), the dynamics of environmental and biological fluids (EU FLUBIO), the dynamics of the nearshore shallow waters (EU SASME), the design of mathematical models for the nearshore hydro-morphodynamics (EU MAST-G6 e MAST-G8 Morphodynamics).

My main interest is marine macrozoobenthos, in particular, Porifera and Cnidaria, studied mainly in the field through scientific diving. Research ranges from taxonomy to the biology and ecology of these taxa, also in support of projects for the conservation and management of marine biodiversity. The scientific activity is carried out in the context of various national and international projects, as well as in the Mediterranean area also in the polar and tropical area. The projects are focused on the biomineralogy (interactions at cellular and organismic level between biological and mineral systems), biomineralization (calcification and silicification) and bioerosion, the influence of climate change on life cycles and the exploration of the mesophotic zone. I’ve leaded the European projects MMMPA and GREEN BUBBLES and I am currently involved in the European MERCES projects on environmental recovery of degraded marine environments, in the Interreg-Med MPA-Engage and the BlueBio Cofund MedSpon.

Full Professor of Ecology, Vice-Director of the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DiSVA), owner of the courses "Marine Conservation Biology" and "Environmental sustainability", member of the technical scientific committee of the National Technological Cluster Blue Italian Growth and of the scientific council of the Inter-University Hi-Tech Recycling Center. My main research concerns the role of microbial biodiversity in the functioning of marine ecosystems, pollution, sustainability and environmental recovery and remediation that have developed through participation in numerous national and international projects, also with roles of scientific responsibility (e.g., PON-PLaCE 2018-2021, PRIN-VIRIDE 2020-2023).

I am associate professor in Oceanography and Atmospheric Physics and an experimental physical oceanographer. I deal with studying the dynamics, following both an Eulerian and a Lagrangian approach, and the vertical structure of the ocean at various spatial and temporal scales. I carry out research activities both in the Mediterranean Sea and in polar areas. In the latter case, the study area is the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean and in particular the Ross Sea. I participated in nine Italian expeditions to Antarctica. The experimental activity is carried out using both classical physical oceanography instruments and more complex systems such as, for example, coastal HF radars for measuring the surface current field. Recently, I have undertaken studies for the description of the connectivity of Mediterranean basins and of the distribution of marine litter using a Lagrangian approach by means of instruments particularly suitable for describing the surface motion of passive tracers.

In the scientific discipline of Physical Oceanography my studies focus are the coastal processes and the Transport processes. With the support of numerical models I study the nearshore hydrodynamics and the transport of inert tracers. 

Director of the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DiSVA) at Polytechnic University of Marche. Chair of "Ecotoxicology" and of "Biological and Ecological Risk Assessment”, Editor-in-Chief of Marine Environmental Research, delegate for Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) within Horizon Missions sub-group Healthy Oceans. He is an expert on environmental contamination, ecotoxicology, impact of dredging and off-shore activities, ecological risk assessment, emerging pollutants including pharmaceuticals and microplastics in the marine environment. He has been responsible for field activities on distribution of microplastics in marine food webs within the EPHEMARE project, Ecotoxicological Effects of Microplastics in Marine Ecosystems, funded by JPI Oceans (2015-2018), he is Coordinator of the international Project RESPONSE (JPI Oceans, 2020-2023), and of the national project PRIN-EMME (2020-2023).