Born in Messina, she obtained her Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at the University of Messina (2016) presenting the thesis PCB-oxidising bacteria from Arctic and Antarctic environments. She is a member of the eLTER H2020 Starting Communities project group and of the Association of Polar Early Career scientists APECS group.
Currently, she is coordinating the PNRA18_00194 Microbial response to human Pollutants in polAr lakeS-MicroPolArS project and the INTERACT Mercury concentration and tolerant microorganisms in Arctic SNOW: new Bioremediation chALLenges – SNOW BALL project. She actively participates in national and international research projects on topics related to microbial ecology and biotechnology in polar environments. Particular interest is directed to the use of molecular tools for the study of biodiversity and the functionality of microbial communities, with attention to the ability to degrade polluting compounds. As part of projects focused on microbiology in polar environments, she has participated in sampling campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as oceanographic cruises in the Mediterranean.
She specializes in: the treatment of microbiological samples of various origins; the use of molecular tools for bacterial biodiversity and DNA/RNA probe hybridization; analysis of microbial communities (metagenomics) by next-generation sequencing; differential expression and statistical validation of RNA-seq data; estimation of microbial biomass; screening of bacteria for the production of molecules of biotechnological interest and for the ability to degrade polluting compounds. She has had the opportunity to perfect her bioinformatics and laboratory skills also thanks to numerous stays in foreign institutes including Sequentia biotech (Barcelona, ​​Spain), the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), and the University of Valencia (Spain). She is the author or co-author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Scientific Reports, Science of the Total Environment, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, PLOS One, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, and more than 30 communications at national and international conferences.

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6013-4436    Research Gate

Degree in Physics from the University of Milan. Retired since 2013, he currently works as an associate researcher at CNR-ISAC where, since 2001, he has been Research Director. Recent research activity has been mainly carried out in the participation in two European projects:
- ICE-ARC
- SPICES
The research topic for which the association with CNR-ISP was requested is the study of the characteristics and distribution of sea ice in polar areas with SAR images.

She graduated in Chemistry in 1993 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza". From 1996 to 2019 she worked at the Water Research Institute (IRSA-CNR) as responsible of the laboratory for the analysis of Priority and Emerging Organic Micropollutants in Aquatic Ecosystems. Since 1 August 2019 she is a researcher at the Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP-CNR), as Head of the Secondary Office (RSS) in Rome (ISP Montelibretti and ISP Tor Vergata).
Scientific interests:
Study of the environmental behaviour of organic micro- and macro-pollutants in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in temperate and polar areas, from the recognition of the sources, to the dynamics of diffusion, to the environmental impact. Particular attention was paid to hazardous and priority pollutants, according to the WFD (including PAHs, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites, PBDEs), endocrine disruptors (steroid hormones, surfactant metabolites, plasticizers) and emerging contaminants (pharmaceutical residues, antibiotics, personal care products, fragrances, perfluorinated compounds, new generation pesticides).
The research activities are aimed at:

- development and validation of advanced analytical methodologies (GC-MS, LC-MS and LC-MS / MS) for the characterization and monitoring of classes of organic pollutants in different environmental compartments (sea water, river water, ground water, wastewater, sediments, suspended particles, soil, organisms);

- study of the diffusion dynamics of legacy and emerging organic contaminants in polar marine ecosystems (Arctic, Antarctica) and their distribution in the atmosphere / ice / sea / sediment / biota compartments as a function of seasonal and climatic changes;

- partition studies of contaminants (speciation and bioavailability); accumulation / bioaccumulation / biomagnification; persistence and transformation (abiotic and biotic degradation), interaction and possible effects on the biological sphere at different trophic levels (microorganisms, organisms); ecotoxicological effects due to multiple contamination;

- circulation and physical-chemical characterization of organic matter in marine and transitional environments.

He has participated in over 25 oceanographic and sampling campaigns in the Mediterranean and Arctic environments.
Author of 60 ISI international publications, 70 publications / contributions with ISSN or ISBN, over 50 Technical Reports / National and International Project Reports.

Scopus - Author ID: 6507972161    Research Gate

Tanita Pescatore has a degree in Ecobiology (LM) at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and is attending a PhD in Ecology and Sustainable Management of Environmental Resources at the University of Tuscia, (Viterbo).
Her research activities are focused on the dynamics and fate of some organic pollutants (anionic surfactants and pesticides) in soils in different exposure scenarios, on their effect on the natural microbial community and on the behaviour of terrestrial organisms, in particular earthworms (E. foetida).
She has gained experience in the study of the occurrence, distribution, persistence and fate of organic micro-pollutants (PAHs, PCBs, NPs, pharmaceutical residues i.e. antibiotics) in different compartments (surface waters, sediments, suspended matter, soils) and on their possible interactions with biota, through the development and validation of selective analytical methodologies (e.g. GC-MS).