Post Doc –Research fellow
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Napoli, Italia
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ORCID: 0000-0003-0380-2888
Google scholar profile
Supervisor: Priscilla Licandro
Appointed on project: PNRR Spoke 1, Linea 1 – Diversitá morfologica e molecolare dello zooplancton gelatinoso nei mari italiani
Research interests
Plankton is the basis of marine food webs, producing oxygen, transferring biomass and supporting the development of higher trophic levels, and contributing to the sequestration of oceanic carbon. Given the importance of this community, my research focuses on the study of i) diversity, ii) distribution and iii) physiology of planktonic organisms. In an early phase of my scientific career, the trophic interactions and vital performances of plankton were my object of study. Particular interest has emerged in mixotrophy in unicellular eukaryotes, and how this is reflected in higher trophic levels, the biological pump and nutrient cycling. My interest also includes the study of the diversity and physiological response of plankton to stress factors (nutrient deficiency, microplastics, temperature increase, pH change). Here at the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, my main role is to analyze the morphological and molecular diversity, and identify the seasonal cycle of gelatinous zooplankton at the long-term LTER-MC station in the Gulf of Naples, and at other LTER sites in the Sea Mediterranean, contributing to the marine species dataset for the National Biodiversity Future Center.