National Scientific Habilitation (ASN) in Italy as an Associate Professor of Ecology, Zoology, and Botany since 2018
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
2011-2013
Ph.D. in Forest Ecology
University of Tuscia (Viterbo), Italy - Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest Systems (DIBAF) –Thesis’ title: “The anthropogenic impacts on tropical forest ecology and dynamics”
Field research in African tropical forests (Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, and Sierra Leone)
09/2010
Summer School of Specialization in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany (with an internship in France) – Final report’s title: “Developments in Biodiversity Monitoring: the Biodiversity-related Niches Differentiation Theory (BNDT) and the Species-Area Index (SAI)”
2008–2009
2nd level Master’s Degree (with Hons) in Global Environmental Protection and International Policies
University of Tuscia and Italian Ministry of the Environment, Rome, Italy – Thesis’ title: “Africa and climate change: impacts on biodiversity, natural resources and populations”
2007-2008
Master’s Degree (MSc) in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology
University of Bari, Italy
Final grade 110/110 – Thesis in Zoology and Anthropology
2003-2006
Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in Environmental Biology
University of Bari, Italy - Thesis in Marine Ecology
RESEARCH, TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
10/2021 – ongoing
Associate Professor of Biological Diversity and Conservation
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Italy
Scientific research and teaching at undergraduate and graduate courses
Coordination of the One Health Artificial Intelligence (OHAI) Research Hub
Teaching for the MSc in Biology and Natural Sciences (classes in: Conservation Biology [6 CFU], Monitoring and Analysis of Biodiversity [6 CFU], Ecosystem Health [6 CFU])
03/2015 – 09/2021
Associate Professor of Ecology and Biodiversity
Biological Institute, Tomsk State University, Russia
Scientific research and teaching at undergraduate and graduate courses
Teaching in English for the MSc in Biology (classes in: Ecology and evolution [5 ECTS], Biodiversity and biogeography [5 ECTS], Statistics applied to biodiversity [3 ECTS], Eco-physiology [3 ECTS], Conservation biology [5 ECTS]) and for the Ph.D. Program in Ecology (subject: Biological diversity in theory and in practice [3 ECTS])
05/2017 – 09/2021
Head and scientific coordinator of the International Master’s Degree Program in
“Biodiversity”
Biological Institute, Tomsk State University, Russia
Coordination of the pedagogical activities and teaching in English at the MSc program
03/2021 – 07/2021
Associate Professor of Ecology
Polytechnic Institute of Rouen, UniLaSalle, France
Scientific research and teaching at undergraduate and graduate courses
Teaching (in English) the classes in General and Applied Ecology
01/2020 – 03/2021
Senior Research Fellow
Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Austria
Research for the project entitled: “The Role of Niche Emergence and Diversity Autocatalysis in the Evolution of Biodiversity, Socio-Economic Sustainability, and Developmental Biology”
07/2019
Invited Lecturer
Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
Teaching a class in Biodiversity (12 hours) and coordinating field data collection for international Ph.D. students in the Changbai Mountains.
08/2018 – 05/2019
Research Associate
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, USA
Scientific research at the Forest Advanced Computing & Artificial Intelligence (FACAI) Lab and coordination of the Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative (GFBI)-Purdue Hub
07/2015-08/2015
Senior Researcher
Ecology & Biodiversity Group, Bio-Clim-Land Center of Excellence, Tomsk State University, Russia
Scientific research in the framework of the project “The effects of climate change on Siberian ecosystems”
01/2015
Explorer-Field Researcher
Fondation Internationale Gabon Eco-Tourisme (FIGET), Gabon, Africa
Coordination of the expeditions in some unexplored areas of the Ivindo National Park in Gabon
10/2014-02/2015
Research fellow and Bioinformatics consultant
Digamma Consortium and Polyclinic of Bari, Bari, Italy
Research on three-dimensional biomedical measurements of organs and biological samples Collaboration in project activities for the realization and calibration of biomedical prototypes
03/2013-03/2014
Postdoc Researcher
Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), Lecce-Viterbo, Italy
Scientific research in tropical forest ecology and biodiversity of Africa, India and Australia
2009-2011
Scientific advisor - Environmental consultant
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN), Natural Resources, Land and Water Division (NRLD), Rome, Italy
Research and consulting activities for the Global Earth Observation (GEO) focus group on biodiversity (GEO-BON) and for the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS-FAO)
10/2011
Invited researcher (Biologist/Ecologist)
University of Calcutta - West Bengal, India
Scientific research on the mangrove ecosystem of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve
2010-2015
Thematic Leader of the Climate Change Adaptation Group (CEM)
IUCN - World Union for Nature Conservation, Gland (Switzerland)
Coordination of the working group activities, research and publications (pro-bono)
2009-ongoing
Scientific director
Villaggio Globale - Quarterly of Ecology
Scientific direction of the journal and publication of articles on environmental topics
08/2010-09/2010
Environmental biologist
Cikananga Wildlife Center and Bali Barat National Park (Indonesia)
Participation in the coordination of wildlife recovery activities (pro-bono)
2009-2010
Lecturer
Masters in "Responsible in Environmental Management”, MAGICA and University of Tuscia, Rome, Italy
Teaching classes in Biodiversity and the Role of NGOs, Air Pollutants and Climate Change, Sustainability, Environmental Economics and Energy Resources
03/2009-07/2009
Environmental biologist
WWF Italy and University of Tuscia (VT)
Quantification of the carbon assimilated by WWF Oasis for the European carbon credit scheme
2004-2009
Environmental Biologist - Coordinator of the research group
WWF Puglia, local group of Gioia del Colle and Acquaviva delle Fonti (BA), Italy
Coordination of field research on habitats, flora and fauna of the South-East Murge in Apulia
07/2008-08/2008
Biologist and environmental operator
Sea Turtle Recovery Center (CTS), Brancaleone (RC), Italy
Recovery and care of rescued animals, census of nesting sites (pro-bono)
07/2007-08/2007
Biologist and international cooperator
Pokret Gorana, Lake Rusanda (Serbia)
Census of local flora and fauna, international cooperation (pro-bono)
LANGUAGE SKILLS
- Italian – Mother tongue
- English – C2 Level (Proficient user)
- French – C1 Level (Proficient user)
- Russian – A2 Level (Basic user)
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS (in Italy)
- Italian scientific qualification as an Associate Professor (ASN of the Italian Ministry of University and Education) in Ecology (obtained in 2018)
- Italian scientific qualification as an Associate Professor (ASN of the Italian Ministry of University and Education) in Botany (obtained in 2018)
- Italian scientific qualification as an Associate Professor (ASN of the Italian Ministry of University and Education) in Zoology e Anthropology (obtained in 2018)
- Italian qualification for the profession of Biologist (obtained in 2008 from the University of Bari, Italy)
PROFESSIONAL AND EDITORIAL MEMBERSHIPS
- External Faculty of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Austria
- Founding Member of the Italian chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology, Italy
- Editorial Advisory Board Member of the journals Biodiversity and Conservation (Springer), npj Biodiversity (Nature), Ecological Modeling (Elsevier), Biological Theory (Springer), Sustainability (MDPI)
- Member of the IUCN, Commissions on: Ecosystem Management (CEM), Species Survival (SSC) and World Protected Areas (WCPA)
- Member of the Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative (GFBI)
- Scientific Director of "Villaggio Globale -Trimestrale di Ecologia" (ISSN 2039-7208)
- Editorialist of the Italian environmental magazine “In Natura” (innatura.info)
- Former Leading scientist of the research group in "Earth Sciences and Ecology" of the Trans-Siberian Scientific Way (TSSW), Russia
- Former Editor-in-chief of the journal "Economology Journal" (ISSN 2039-7208)
- Former editorial member of the journal "International Journal for Biodiversity and Conservation" (ISSN 2141-243X)
- Former member of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and WWF Italy
FIELD ACTIVITIES AND PARTICIPATION IN FUNDED INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECTS
- Siberia, Russia (climate change impacts on biodiversity) - Russian Science Foundation Grant
- The Altay Republic, Russia (alpine ecology, glaciers, treeline) - Mendeleev Foundation
- Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, and Sierra Leone: ecology and biodiversity of tropical forests) - ERC Grant
- USA (Monitoring Forests Biodiversity) – Purdue Research Grants
- Serbia, The Balkans (bird migration and freshwater ecosystem restoration)
- Java and Bali, Indonesia (wildlife rescue and animal behaviour studies)
- Sundarbans, India (ecology of mangrove forests)
- Queensland, Australia (tropical forest ecology and reef biodiversity)
- Changbai Mountain and Sichuan, China (forest biodiversity and conservation)
- Pretoria, South Africa (conservation biology in BRICS countries)
SCIENTIFIC AWARDS
- 2017 - Award for the "Contribution in the strategic development of the Institute of Biology and the direction of the International Master’s Degree in Biodiversity ", Tomsk State University, Russia
- 2016 - Award for the "Best international e-learning course", Tomsk State University, Russia
- 2015 - Award for the "Best researcher of the year", Tomsk State University, Russia
RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDING AND COLLABORATIONS
Academic Year 2023/2024:
- Principal investigator of the PRIN project "Identification of priority sites for the conservation of terrestrial animal and plant diversity to meet European and CBD 2030 targets" funded by the Ministry of University and Research Italy
Academic Year 2022/2023:
- Principal investigator of the research project entitled "Species monitoring and ecological corridors planning in the Bologna's province" funded by Comune di Bologna
- Principal investigator of the research project entitled "Monitoring of biodiversity in the ecosystems of Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Italy) funded by ISPRA-ARPAB
Academic Year 2021/2022:
- Principal investigator of the research project entitled "Monitoring of biodiversity in the ecosystems of Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Italy) funded by ISPRA-ARPAB
Academic Years 2019/2021:
- Principal investigator of the research project entitled "The Role of Niche Emergence and Diversity Autocatalysis in the Evolution of Biodiversity, Socio-Economic Sustainability, and Developmental Biology" - Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Austria
Academic Year 2018/2019:
- Participant in the research team on the relationship between forest tree diversity and distribution of North American warblers in relation to climate change - Purdue University (USA)
- Co-coordinator of the research group "Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative (GFBI) - Purdue Hub" (USA)
- Co-coordinator of the research project of the group in Forest Advanced Computing & Artificial Intelligence for the study of the biodiversity of world forests and global anthropogenic impacts on forest ecosystems - Purdue University (USA)
Academic Year 2017/2018:
- Coordinator of the research project on the effects of climate change on the biodiversity of Siberian ecosystems - Tomsk State University (Russia)
- Coordinator of the research project in the Republic of Altai, Mongolia-Russia-Kazakhstan on the effects of climate change on the biodiversity of the area
- Co-responsible for Tomsk State University (Russia) of the collaboration with the University of Pretoria (South Africa) for research and education programs in BRICS countries
Academic Year 2016/2017:
- Coordinator of the research project on the role of beavers in the accumulation of biomass in the freshwater ecosystems of Siberia (Russia) - Biological Institute, Tomsk State University (Russia)
Academic Year 2015/2016:
- Head of the "biodiversity" unit of the research group for a project funded with Grant by the Mendeleev Foundation "Study of climate-induced changes on vulnerable ecosystems of Siberia"
- Participant (Core member) of the research group funded by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) "Biogeochemistry of the territories of Central Siberia"
Academic Year 2010/2011 and 2014/2015:
- Coordinator (Team leader) of the research group in adaptation to climate change (CEM Commission) for the World Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland
Academic Year 2010/2011 and 2013/2014:
- Participant in the research group for the project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) "Africa GHG" for the topic "anthropogenic impacts" on African tropical forests (Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic)
SUPERVISION OF BSc, MSc and PhD FINAL DISSERTATIONS
- For thesis after 2021 see here here
- Co-supervisor of the MSc thesis in Conservation Biology of V. Amendola entitled “Strict Protected Areas in Italy” at Dept. of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Italy (A.Y. 2020-2021)
- Co-supervisor of the MSc thesis in Ecology and Zoology of M. Turcios entitled “Biodiversity of bats (Chiroptera) in Honduras: an ecological approach based on three case studies” at the Biological Institute, Tomsk State University, Russia (A.Y. 2019-2020)
- External reviewer of the Ph.D. thesis in Forest biodiversity of A. Ota entitled “Forest dynamics and their relationship with the population of warblers in North American forests”, at the Department of Forestry and Natural Sciences of Purdue University, USA (A.Y. 2018-2019)
- External reviewer of the Ph.D. thesis in Biological and Environmental Sciences of R. Pecoraro entitled "Toxicity Evaluation of New Engineered Nanomaterials in model organisms" at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Catania, Italy (A.A. 2016-2017)
- Co-supervisor of the BSc Thesis in Geoecology of A. Dudko entitled “Geoecology of the Aktru Glacier, in the Altai Mountains” at Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia (academic year 2016/2017)
- Co-supervisor of the MSc Thesis in Ecology of L. Oreti, University of Tuscia (Viterbo, Italy), entitled “Monitoring Tree Diversity of Ghanian Tropical Forests” (academic year 2013/2014)
- External supervisor of the Ph.D. Thesis in Marine Ecology of J. Herekrishna, University of Kolkata (India), entitled: “Study on Edible Oyster (Saccostrea cucullata) from Sundarbans areas with special reference to its microbial load” (academic Year 2013/2014)
- Co-supervisor of the MSc Thesis in Ecology of G. Lo Re, University of Tuscia (Viterbo, Italy), entitled “Biodiversity of tropical forests of Ghana” (academic year 2012/2013)
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed papers (in English) - see here
E-learning courses
- Biodiversity: theories, measures and data sampling techniques (available online on Coursera.org: https://w [http://www.coursera.org/learn/biological-diversity)] ww.c [http://www.coursera.org/learn/biological-diversity)] oursera.org/learn/biological-diversity) [http://www.coursera.org/learn/biological-diversity)]
- Ecology: from cells to Gaia (available online on Coursera.org: https://w [http://www.coursera.org/learn/ecology)] ww.c [http://www.coursera.org/learn/ecology)] oursera.org/learn/ecology) [http://www.coursera.org/learn/ecology)]
Monographies
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Io sono l’ambiente, LibreriaUniversitaria Edizioni, 200 pp., 2021 [IN ITALIAN]
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Biodiversity in time and space, Nova Science Publisher, New York, 352 pp., 2018 [IN ENGLISH]
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Biodiversità: basi teoretiche [IN RUSSIAN: “Биоразнообразие: теоретические основы”], Villaggio Globale Editore, 93 pp., 2017 [IN RUSSIAN]
- Cazzolla Gatti, R. Animali non umani. Una nuova coscienza: Saggi scelti e racconti, Key Editore, Vicalvi (FR), 154 pp., 2016 [IN ITALIAN]
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Biodiversità, in teoria e in pratica, LibreriaUniversitaria.it Edizioni, Padova, 360 pp., 2014 [IN ITALIAN]
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Itinerari naturalistici nella Puglia delle Murge, Villaggio Globale Editore, 254 pp., 2013 [IN ITALIAN]
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Il paradosso della civiltà, Adda Editore, Bari, 242 pp., 2013 [IN ITALIAN]
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Ambienti, flora e fauna delle Murge di sud-est, Adda Editore, 520 pp. 2011 [IN ITALIAN]
Book chapters
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Biological Diversity and Current Threats of Lotic Ecosystems, in Riparian Zones: Characteristics, Management Practices and Ecological Impacts, Oleg S. Pokrovsky (Eds.), Nova Science Publisher, New York, 2016
Scientific reports
- Mitra A., Kakoli B., Cazzolla Gatti R., Do all mangroves exhibit uniform resilience to climate change induced salinity alteration?, Economology Journal, 5(3):45-68, 2015
- Mitra A. and Cazzolla Gatti R., Carbon census in the mangrove ecosystem of lower Gangetic delta, Economology Journal, 5(3):11-27, 2015
- Cazzolla Gatti R., African rainforest and biodiversity under anthropogenic stresses and a changing climate, Ph.D. Thesis in Forest Ecology, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, 2013
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Bioetica della sperimentazione animale e dei metodi sostitutivi, 01/2014, Camera dei Deputati, Relazione tecnica
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Delitto di Avetrana e Dilemma del Prigioniero, un equilibrio emergente per la teoria dei giochi, 02/2011, Matematicamente.it
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Notarnicola C., Analisi di specie e di ecosistemi – La ricca biodiversità delle Murge di Sud-Est rilevata al suolo e da immagini satellitari, Umanesimo della Pietra, num. 34, pp. 129-138, 2011
- Andrade A. P., Herrera B. F. and Cazzolla Gatti R., Building Resilience to Climate Change: Ecosystem-based adaptation and lessons from the field, IUCN, Gland (Svizzera), 164 pp., 2010
- Cazzolla Gatti R. Africa and Climate Change: impacts on biodiversity, populations and natural resources, Thesis of the II Level MSc in Global Environmental Protection, University of Tuscia & Italian Ministry of Environment, 2009
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Fire monitoring and the environment, FAO-UN, Environmental series, 2009
- Cazzolla Gatti R., La visione stereoscopica nei primati e negli altri animali, MSc Thesis in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Università degli Studi di Bari, Deptartment of Zoology and Anthropology, 2008
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Valutazione dello status di conservazione delle risorse marine demersali del Mediterraneo, BSc Thesis in Environmental Biology, Università degli Studi di Bari, Marine Biology Laboratory, 2007
- Cazzolla Gatti R. D’Ippolito D., Guagnano G., Paradiso E., La cava di Monte Rotondo: da scempio artificiale a serbatoio naturale, WWF Italia Ed. & Italian Ministry of Environment, 2007
- Cazzolla Gatti R., Gravina S. Croce: un patrimonio di biodiversità, WWF Italia Ed., 2007
- VV.AA. including Cazzolla Gatti R., Terrestrial observation of our planet, GTOS Biennial Report, FAO-UN, Rome, 2009
