Since 1990 he is full professor of Ecology at the Faculty of Science of the University of Messina (Italy). General Secretary in the following NATO courses coordinated by Dr Trevor Platt, Halifax, Canada: (a) Lipari Island, Italy (12-24 October 1980) on Physiological ecology of Phytoplankton, (b) Bombannes (Bordeaux, France 12-20 May 1982) on Flows of energy and materials in marine ecosyistems: theory and practice, (c) S. Miniato, Italy (1-7 October 1985) on Physiological Ecology of photosynthetic Picopl9ankton in the Ocean. From 1990 to 2002, Italian Delegate to the Scientific Commission of the CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Hobart (Tasmania, Australia). Over 60 months accumulated research experience at sea, including the following PNRA Italian Antarctic Expeditions as Principal Investigator: III Exp. (Terra Nova Bay Ecosystem,1987-88), V (South Pacific Sector,1989-90), X ROSSMIZE (Ross Sea Marginal Ice Zone Ecology,1994-95), XIII PIPEX (Pack Ice Plankton Expedition,1997-98), XV PIED (Pack Ice Ecosystem Dynamics 1999-2000), XX SEAROWS (Sea ice Ecology in the Antarctic: ROss and Weddell Seas) on the Polar Queen, Cariboo, Italica (1987-2002), Peri-Antarctic Oceanographic Expeditions in the Strait of Magellan I (1991) and II (1995), and one Arctic canadian cruise by N/R Hudson (1980). He has been Scientific Responsible of the Operative Unit Zooplankton and Micronekton in the following European projects: VECTOR, RITMARE, COCONET, MARINE STRATEGY. From 1968 to now, his research activity has been continuously addressed to issues on the zooplankton and micronekton ecology and biodiversity. Its main fields of study concern: (a) spatio-temporal distribution and daily vertical migrations (DVM) of marine zooplankton and micronekton communities in the Mediterranean and Polar ecosystems, in relation to the physical, chemical and biological water mass structure) (b) brackish environments functioning and biological response to stressor variables, (c) functioning of the coastal and pelagic food chain, with particular regard to the role of euphausiid and mesopelagic fish in the Deep Scattering Layer (DSL) (d) zooplankton role in the carbon cycle, (e) particles size spectrum (OPC) in the study of aquatic ecosystems (f) effects of climate change on the biology and ecology of Antarctic sea-ice and free water zooplankton communities. During 18 PNRA Antarctic expeditions (1987-2018) in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea and South Pacific Sector in free water and pack-fast-ice he collected about 6000 samples which are part of the zooplankton and micronekton collection laboratory of the University of Messina. In addition to the classic mesozooplankton and micronekton such as WP2, Indian Ocean Standard Net (IOSN), Bongo 40, IKMT, PHN, advanced electronic multinet are part of its field instrumentation such as BIONESS (1 m2) with 12 nets, MININESS (0.25 m2) with 10 nets 200, 500 and 1000 um, MICRONESS with 4 100 um nets, equipped with a multiparametric probe seabird 11 plus, fluorescence sensor and Optical Plankton Counter (OPC).
Research results are documented in more than 240 papers on national and international peer journals. Editor of these books: Atlas of Marine Zooplankton Strait of Magellan I Copepods (1995) and II Amphipods, Mysids, Euphausiids, Ostracods, Chaetognaths, Springer Verlag (1996); Ross Sea Ecology, Springer Verlag 2000; Mediterranean Ecosystems Structure and Processes, Springer Verlag (2001). Editor of the Research Topic "Ecology of Marine Zooplankton and Micronekton in Polar and Sub-Polar Areas” in Frontiers in Marine Biology (2023-2024).

2016-2019: Master Degree in Marine Biology (110/110 cum laude) at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna - Ravenna Campus. Thesis title: "Bioaccumulation of legacy and emerging contaminants in tuna species".
2020-in progress: PhD in Polar Science at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. My PhD project focuses on the analysis of persistent organic pollutants (regulated and emerging) in marine sediment cores collected in the Kongsfjorden-Krossfjorden fjord system (Svalbard Archipelago, Arctic), in order to: 1) evaluate the concentration levels and temporal trends of target contaminants in the sediment cores; 2) understand the temporal variability and fluxes of contaminants in the Arctic marine environment; and 3) define the sources of contamination in the investigation area.
In 2021 I spent two months (from the end of August to the end of October) at the Arctic Station 'Dirigibile Italia' in Ny-Ålesund, during which I took part both in the sampling activities of the sediment cores that were analysed for my PhD project, and in the management activities of the research station, working together with the station leader in charge at the time. In 2022 I spent 20 days (September) in Ny-Ålesund, thanks to an Arctic Field Grant, during which I sampled surface marine sediments in Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden.

Graduated in Analysis and Management of the Environment from the University of Bologna, he began his collaboration with the Institute of Polar Sciences in 2019, conducting a study on identifying biomass burning events in Ny-Ålesund between 2010 and 2020. Currently a PhD student in Polar Sciences at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, he works at the ISP in Bologna. He mainly focuses on studying the optical and physical properties of atmospheric particulate matter, with a special focus on the Arctic region. He uses passive techniques like solar and lunar photometry, combining them with in-situ measurements of the scattering and absorption coefficients of solar radiation by aerosols.

Got her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Care at the University of Padova with a thesis on Caffeine-induced Changes in a shoal behaviour of Tiger Barb (Puntigrus tetrazona). During her studies went to the University of South Bohemia, Institute of Complex Systems FFPW to participate in a project on Changes in shoal behaviour of aquarium fish in the presence of contaminants. Afterwards obtained her Master’s degree in Marine Sciences at the University of Milan-Bicocca with a thesis Picophytoplankton dynamics in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Gulf of Trieste). During the course of her studies went to Thudufushi, Maldives as a Marine Biologist. Moreover, did an experience at The National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS (Trieste) using optical (flow cytometry), molecular, and bioinformatics techniques for the study of planktonic microbes in the Gulf of Trieste and Venice. Currently works at the Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP-CNR) in Messina with a research project HALOVITA: anaerobic sulfur-respiring extreme halophilic archaea as model organisms for studying the criteria for a claim of active life detection.