Associate professor at the University of Bologna since 2020, he carries out his research in the field of marine ecology. The research interests are:
- Ecology of macrobenthic communities on hard and soft bottoms
- Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on benthic assemblages
- Benthic community and costal habitat conservation and restoration
- Coral diseases
- Marine Citizen Science
- Benthic biotic indices
- Scientific diving and underwater methods
- Geographic information systems applied to coastal ecology and habitat mapping
President of the Italian Association of Scientific Divers (formally: Associazione Italiana Operatori Scientifici Subacquei, AIOSS), and vice-president of the non-profit Reef Checl Italia onlus association, a charity dealing with monitoring and conservation of marine species and habitats.
Education
Graduated in Environmental Sciences, cum laude, in 1996 at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Bologna, he obtained a PhD in Ecology in 2001 at the University of Parma.
Research interests and publication record
His research focuses on marine macrobenthic communities ecology on hard and soft bottoms including the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on benthic assemblages, costal habitat conservation and restoration, coral diseases, development of Marine Citizen Science protocols, benthic biotic indices, innovative scientific diving and underwater methods, and the application of geographic information systems to coastal ecology and habitat mapping.
Author or coauthor of 50 peer reviewed publications in ISI WoS/SCOPUS journals and book chapters including papers in Scientific Reports, Plos One, Aquatic Conservation-Marine And Freshwater Ecosystems, Ecological Indicators, Environment International, Frontiers In Marine Science, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Ices Journal Of Marine Science, Marine Environmental Research, Biodiversity And Conservation, Diversity And Distributions, Marine Biology, Peerj, Estuarine, Coastal And Shelf Science.
Publication metrics
Updated January 25, 2021 (For updated values follow the following links)
Scopus indicators: 49 documents, 775 citations by 603 documents, h-index: 17
Web of Science indicators: 41 documents, 637 citations, h-index: 17
Google Scholar: 1298 citations, h-index: 21, i10-index: 38
OrcID: 0000-0002-6521-1330 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6521-1330
Web of Science Researcher ID: R-3093-2016 https://publons.com/researcher/R-3093-2016/
Publons 1198817 https://publons.com/researcher/1198817/massimo-ponti/
Scopus Author ID: 6604059267 https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6604059267
Loop profile ID: 816702 https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/816702
Google Scholar profile https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=Z576MxwAAAAJ&hl=en
Main international and national scientific projects
- 2020-2022 CASCADE CoAStal and marine waters integrated monitoring systems for ecosystems proteCtion AnD managemEnt (INTERREG V A Italy-Croatia CBC Programme)
- 2020-2021 Working Group Participant of the COST Action OceanGov (Ocean Governance for Sustainability – Challenges, Options and the Role of Science), coordinated by The Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) (COST Action CA 15217, 2016-2020)
- 2019-2022 TRASMARES Specialized training on applied tools for sustainable marine ecosystems (ERAMUS + 2019-1-ES01-KA203-065536)
- 2019-2021 TAO Technologies for Coastal Monitoring - program POR-FESR 2014-2020 of the Emilia-Romagna Region
- 2019 FLAG BEVANO - Project for the characterization of the Bevano river mouth and identification of possible conservation and enhancement strategies for nursery areas for protected species and species of commercial interest. Action 2.A.a) “Habitat marini e lagunari – Studi e ricerche” del FEAMP 2014/2020, Regione Emilia-Romagna
- 2017-2020 Reef ReseArcH ‐ Resistance and Resilience of Adriatic Mesophotic Biogenic Habitats to Human and Climate Change Threats (Research Project of National Interest, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research; PRIN 2015 Prot. 2015J922E4). Coordinator: Prof. Marco Abbiati, Univeraity of Bologna
- 2016-2020 LIFE15 MARINA PLAN PLUS: reliable and innovative technology for the realization of a sustainable marine and coastal seabed management plan grant, agreement No LIFE15 ENV/IT/000391
- 2013-2015 Coastal bioconstructions: structures, functions, and management (Research Project of National Interest, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research; PRIN 2010-2011 Prot. 2010Z8HJ5M) Coordinator: Prof. Ferdinando Boero, Università del Salento
- 2012-2015 MMMPA - Training Network for Monitoring Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013 FP7-PEOPLE-2011-ITN; Grant Agreement no.: 290056).
- 2007-2009 ECO-GOVERNANCE: Fondamenti ecologici per la governance dello spazio costiero: ecologia, monitoraggio e gestione degli ecosistemi acquatici di transizione Settore: Ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile Programme: NPP FESR/CARDS Interreg IIIA (18/05/2007-17/11/2009)
- 2004-2006 TWReferenceNet: Management and sustainable development of protected transitional waters – 3B073 Sector: TRANSITIONAL WATERS Programme: PIC INTERREG III B CADSES 2000-2006 (01/01/2004-31/12/2006)
Editorial and reviewer activity
Curently Review Editor: in Marine Conservation and Sustainability of Frontiers in Marine Science.
Curently Guest Associate Editor in Marine Ecosystem Ecology of Frontiers in Marine Science.
Top peer reviewer according to Publons record (22 verified reviews and 5 verified editor records)
and frequent activity as Reviewer for > 20 international scientific journals.
Reviewer of research proposals on behalf of the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK and of the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Argentina.
Boards participation
- Since 2016, Italian national rapresentative at the Eusropean Scientific Diving Panel (ESDP) hosted by the European network of Marine Stations (MARS).
- Since 2015, Member of the working group "Underwater scientific work activities" of the UNI / CT 042 / GL 58 group "Safety in underwater and industrial hyperbaric activities" of the Italian Standardization Body (UNI).
- 6th European Conference on Scientific Diving (ECSD) Freiberg, Germany, 2021
- 1st International Scuba Diving Sustainability Workshop, Galata Museum, Genoa, 2018
- 53° European Marine Biology Symposium (EMBS53), Oostende, Belgium, 2018
- 41° Congresso della Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) a Kiel, Germania, 2016
- MMMPA/ CIESM International Joint Conference on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas, Ancona 2015
Main work experiences - fellowships - awards
- 2010 Visiting Scientist at the School of Marine Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, benefiting of a grant of the Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme
- 2009 Scientific collaborator in a “sail ship grounding impact assessment” in Cayo Timón (Cayos Cochinos, Honduras), supervised by Prof. C. Cerrano (University of Genoa)
- 2008 Contracts for teaching and technical supports for the 1st level international Master in "Tropical Marine Biodiversity and Natural Products" by Polytechnic University of Marche
- 2007 Contracts for teaching and technical supports for the 1st level international Master in "Tropical Marine Biodiversity and Natural Products" by Polytechnic University of Marche
- 2005 Visiting Scientist at the Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology (CEME) of The Netherlands Institute of Ecology NIOO-KNAW (Yerseke, NL) benefiting of a grant from the University of Bologna
Teaching and supervision
AA 2020-2021 Associate Professor at the University of Bologna
- SCIENTIFIC DIVING , Master Science in Marine Biology, Italy (6 ECTS)
- MARINE ECOSYSTEMS: STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES , Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (6 ECTS)
- EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT SEA, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
- MARINE ECOLOGY , Bachelor in Biological Sciences at the University of Bologna, Italy (2 ECTS)
As Adjunct Professor:
AA 2019-2020
- QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN MARINE SCIENCE , Master Science in Marine Biology at the Marche Polytechnic University, Italy (6 ECTS)
- COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Padua, Italy (3 ECTS)
- EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT SEA, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
- SCIENTIFIC DIVING, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (3 ECTS)
AA 2018-2019
- QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN MARINE SCIENCE , Master Science in Marine Biology at the Marche Polytechnic University, Italy (6 ECTS)
- COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS , Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Padua, Italy (4 ECTS)
- EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT SEA, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
- SCIENTIFIC DIVING, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (2 ECTS)
AA 2017-2018
- QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN MARINE SCIENCE , Master Science in Marine Biology at the Marche Polytechnic University, Italy (6 ECTS)
- COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS , Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Padua, Italy (4 ECTS)
- EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT SEA, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
- SCIENTIFIC DIVING, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (2 ECTS)
AA 2016-2017
- COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS , Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Padua, Italy (4 ECTS)
- EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT SEA, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
- SCIENTIFIC DIVING, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (2 ECTS)
- EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY AT SEA, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
AA 2015-2016 SCIENTIFIC DIVING, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (2 ECTS)
AA 2014-2015 SCIENTIFIC DIVING, Master Science in Marine Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy (1 ECTS)
AA 2012-2013 in STATISTICS FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES (A/L), Bachelor Degree in Biological Sciences at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy (6 ECTS)
Since 2000, he has been main supervisor of 11 MSc theses and 3 BSc, and co-supervisor of 18 BSc, 30 MSc and 3 PhD theses.
