PhD Student
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Sicily Marine Centre
Dipartimento di Ecologia Marina Integrata (EMI)
Villa Pace - C.da Porticatello 29, 98167 Messina – Italia
Università Politecnica delle Marche
Tel. +39 081 5833784
Tel.: +39 3335416450
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Skype: chiara.gambardella_1
Internal Supervisors: Teresa Romeo, Francesco Colloca
External Supervisor: Carlo Cerrano
Program: XXXVIII cycle UNIVPM-SZN
Research Interests
My research interests are on marine conservation, quantitative ecology and innovative fieldwork techniques, with a focus on large pelagic elasmobranchs. My current PhD project has the aim to advance knowledge on the distribution of two important apex predators of the Mediterranean Sea: mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) and white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).
I am interested in field techniques such as stereo and mono-BRUVs: I have worked on their development, calibration and use to gain valuable information about presence, behaviour and population size of multiple species. During my PhD I will also focus in deepening my knowledge on environmental DNA (eDNA), which is a powerful tool to monitor elusive species such as large predators. Moreover, I have a keen interest in involving people in marine conservation through the managing of the social media platforms of “sharkPulse Italia” and also interviewing fishermen to engage citizen scientists and collect information on the distribution of sharks in the Mediterranean Sea.
Selected Publications
Jenrette, J.F., J.L. Jenrette, N.K. Truelove, S. Moro, N.I. Dunn, T.K. Chapple, A.J. Gallagher, C. Gambardella, R. Schallert, B.D. Shea, D.J. Curnick, B.A. Block, and F. Ferretti. “Detecting Mediterranean white sharks with environmental DNA.”- 2023, In Frontiers in Ocean Observing: Emerging Technologies for Understanding and Managing a Changing Ocean. Oceanography 36 https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2023.s1.28
