Team

Iuri Peri is the scientific lead of the Sea Marvel project for the University of Catania as Lead Partner. He is Professor of Bioeconomics Principles and carries out qualitative and quantitative studies on fisheries economics, quality production, agri-food policies, multi-level governance, foodsecurity, and sustainability.

Prof Adriana Vella, PhD (Cambridge, UK), is a full-time academic member of the Department of Biology, University of Malta since 1995. PhD…Within the Italia- Malta Interreg project Sea Marvel – Save, Enhance, Admire Marine Versatile Life, she is the project coordinator, manager, and lead scientific researcher for the University of Malta, PP2, team.

She holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Bologna and has been a consultant to public administrations and private companies on the programming and management of European funds. She is the Project Manager of Sea Marvel at the Di3A of the University of Catania.

Marine biologist and PhD in food economics. She is involved in research projects and for the third mission of the Catania University concerning the enhancement of local seafood, the conservation of Mediterranean marine resources, the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of small-scale fisheries.

Dr Joseph G Vella is a senior academic member at the University of Malta, lecturing and researching in computer science, specialising in data modelling and DBMS-related technologies. He is involved in several research projects with other academic institutions and industries to apply data management expertise for better data integration and to address data quality issues.

Vera Teresa Foti is associate professor in SSD AGR01 at Di3A of the University of Catania. She carries out her scientific research activities, while also participating in national and international projects, on issues concerning Agricultural Economics and Policy. She is the author of numerous publications in national and international journals.

Gabriella Vindigni is part of the Sea Marvel project for the University of Catania taking care of the marine monitoring of the Sicilian-Maltese channel. Her experiences include the evaluation of policies implemented for the development of a territory from the point of view of safety, innovation and competitiveness of agri- food enterprises.

Born in 1974, with a degree in Political Science and a PhD in Contemporary History, she is currently a research fellow at the School of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania (Di3A) within the Sea Marvel project. She contributes to the project with methodologies for the acilitation of participatory processes.

He got a Master’s degree in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna. During his studies, he specialized in Stock Assessment and fishing activities. He took part in the SOLEMON oceanographic survey in 2016, in collaboration with the CNR of Ancona (Italy) and in 2018 he became a National Observer for bluefin tuna fishing. He also deepened population genetics, studying the DNA of marine shark specimens and he attended scientific divers’ courses and expeditions. Currently, research fellow for Sea Marvel project on Sustainable Management of marine biological resources.

Diego Fiorentino studies biodiversity of the mediterranean marine fauna in the cross-border area Sicilia-Malta and in the gulf of Catania to promote conservation of vulnerable marine species and the reduction of the anthropic impact.

Clare is a conservation biologist and got her PhD at the Conservation Biology Research Group, University of Malta. She is broadly interested in biodiversity conservation of both marine and terrestrial environments. Clare has experience in using several tools which are applied for conservation research including bioacoustics, DNA barcoding and metabarcoding.

Noel Vella is a biologist with interest in the application of genetics as a tool for conservation biology and management of marine species.

Born in 1996, she earned a master’s degree in Ecobiology with a marine course of studies at the University of Rome La Sapienza. She is currently a research fellow of the Sea Marvel project in the context of the “Monitoring and data processing on marine resources and threats to biodiversity in the Sicily-Malta cross-border area”.

Research fellow within the Sea Marvel Interreg V-A Italy-Malta project, at the Di3A of the University of Catania, with a focus on marine fauna and fishing activities monitoring. She graduated in marine biology at the Polytechnic University of Marche, then she completed a PhD in Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Catania, with a research on marine environmental monitoring through the use of bioindicators and biomarkers .

Born in 1985 in Rome, after having obtained a degree in Environmental Sciences and PhD in Nature Conservation and Management of Biological Resources, he is currently a research fellow at CNR-ISMAR, and a consultant within the Sea Marvel project. Within the project, he takes care of the database setting, providing data analysis and GIS support.

Giuliana Pellegrino is a certified MMO. She has been involved in research focusing on the population and distribution of cetaceans in the Mediterranean since 2004. Since 2010 she collaborates and coordinates research groups within the “FLT Med Net” project. She takes part to the sea monitoring activities of University of Catania within the Sea Marvel project as observer.

Manuela Trovato is an anthropologist with 15 years of experience in professional group facilitation. She focuses on local economic development and she deals with participatory approaches for social and environment regeneration. For Sea Marvel she supports the stakeholders engagement and analysis.

Yacopo Baldacchino is a marine biologist at the Conservation Biology Research Group, University of Malta, having specialised on species diversity in shallow waters around the Maltese Islands.

After her graduation in Natural Sciences, she worked on several projects about the ecology of terrestrial and marine mammals, focusing on cetacean species of the Mediterranean Sea during the last 15 years, including her PhD project, with particular interest in the potential impacts of anthropogenic threats on marine species.