Contacts

Specialty
Human Evolution, Systematic Vertebrates, Systematic Zoology, Evolutionary Biology
Organization
University of Trieste

Profile

Since 2000 he is associate professor of zoology (SSD BIO / 05) member of the Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste. Currently he holds the following courses: Human Evolution, Systematic Vertebrates, Systematic Zoology, Evolutionary Biology, CdS STAN and STB.

From 2013 to 2015 he was co-ordinator of the CdS of Environmental Sciences and Technologies and Nature (STAN), since 2016 he is the referent of the orientation activity of the Department for the area of environmental biology. From 2013 to 2016 he was chairman of the examination committee for the programmed number of courses of study belonging to the Department of Life Sciences. He also deals with issues related to educational dissemination by holding various conferences, articles of a popular nature, interviews, etc. Since 2010 he has been coordinator of the scientific divulgation activity "Caffè delle Scienze - nature on showcase" in Trieste, from 2017 also in Gorizia.

His scientific interests mainly concern reproductive biology, systematics, histology and ultrastructure of scypho- and cubozoans; morphology, ultrastructure and systematics of cnidarian nematocysts, as well as their toxicology and their effects on humans. He also worked on reproductive biology of Esox lucius in the Friuli plain, as well as on the morphology and morphometry of otoliths of the dulcicoli minnows of the region. He also worked on cytological analyzes in relation to the accumulation of Okadaic acid and derivatives in the digestive gland of Mytilus galloprovincialis. In these areas he has been the owner or co-owner of various research funds, among which 40% and PRIN of MIUR, funds for the research of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region UNEP-MAP funds. Since 2006, as part of the Dryades Project, he has started working on the preparation of databases and interactive digital guides on the characteristics of the organisms belonging to the Phylum Cnidaria, and more precisely on the nematocysts. More recently (2008/09) it was decided to expand this project, with the design and preliminary development of a digital system for the identification on a morpho-anatomical basis of all the jellyfish belonging to the Scyphozoa and Cubozoa Classes. From 2009 to 2013 he was the owner of a CoFin with the sponge factory Rosenfeld to analyze and verify the feasibility of commercially available sponge farms in the Gulf of Trieste and in the Bahamas (Is. Eleuthera).

As part of these activities, he has participated as a speaker at numerous national and international conferences, as well as contributing to the organization and as editor of two international workshops (Workshop on jelly-fish in the Mediterranean Sea, Trieste, 3-4 / 9/1984; Workshop on jelly-fish in the Mediterranean Sea, Trieste, 2-5/9/1987).