H2O Pollution: holistic approach and nature based solutions

Sapienza Università di Roma

Maria Letizia Costantini is an Associate Professor of Ecology at Sapienza Università di Roma. The main focus of her research is the relationship between biodiversity and functioning in aquatic ecosystems. Currently the research interests are food webs in Mediterranean and Polar habitats, impact of alien species, use of stable isotopes for environmental monitoring. She is responsible/member of research projects in Antarctica and Arctic. She was proponent and President of the Master Course in Ecobiology at Sapienza University. She is member of the Steering committee of the PhD programme in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology. She teaches Ecology and Applied ecology in Bachelor and Master Courses.

Edoardo Calizza is an Associate Professor of Ecology at Sapienza Università di Roma. He is particularly interested in the study of species interactions in ecological communities through stable isotope analyses. The research experience includes the Mediterranean region and the polar areas. Here, the research focuses on the effects of climate change on food webs and the ecosystem services they provide. The general aim of his research work is to better understand mechanisms of biodiversity organization along natural and anthropic gradients of disturbance, in order to predict how changes in biodiversity may affect the structure and functioning of ecosystems.

Giulia Massini is senior researcher at the Department of Energy Technologies of ENEA, Laboratory of Biotechnological Processes for Energy and Industry. She is also a Lecturer at the Master in Ecobiology, teaching Bioremediation of contaminated aquatic and terrestrial environments at Sapienza Università di Roma. She has experience in ecology, microbial ecology and ecology applied to the study of fermentation, anaerobic digestion and biogeochemical cycles. She currently carries out research in the field of energy valorisation of waste biomass with the production of biogas, biomethane and biohydrogen. She studies innovative strategies for improving energy yields and decontaminating waste biomass through bioaugmentation and biostimulation techniques.

Anna Barra Caracciolo, PhD in Ecology. She is Head of Research of the Soil and Water Ecology lab at the Water Research Institute of the National Research Council (Rome). Her main research field is the study of the fate of organic contaminants with particular regard to the role of natural microbial communities in degrading and removing chemicals and bioremediation strategies. She has taught for 6 years Bioremediation at the Ecology Master Course at Sapienza Università di Roma. She is the tutor of several Master and PhD students. She is member of the SETAC Europe, of the EcotoxicoMic Network and of the NORMAN Network.

Antonella Marone is an environmental biotechnologist. She is the Head of the Laboratory of Biotechnological Processes for Energy and Industry (PBE), Department of Energy Technologies at ENEA. Her research activities in Environmental Biotechnology encompass all mixed-culture bioprocesses applied to treatment of solid and liquid waste and products recovery (renewable energy and chemicals): bioelectrochemical systems, fermentation, anaerobic digestion and designing biorefineries. She was awarded with an EU Marie Curie Grant to join the Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology of INRA (France) and with a Beatriu de Pinos fellowship to join the GENECOV research group at UAB (Spain).

University of Bucharest

Carmen Chifiriuc is a microbiologist, full professor at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology, Department of Microbiology, corresponding member of the Romania Academy, vice-chancellor for research (2020-2023), the coordinator of the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, member of the taskforce for research within CIVIS (WP4) and member in RIS4CIVIS. Fields of expertise: investigation by phenotypic and genotypic approaches of resistance and virulence in bacterial strains isolated from clinical sources and from the aquatic environment, and of the complex pathogen-host interrelation, evaluation of novel antimicrobial and anti-virulence strategies, i.e., novel chemicals, (nano)materials, probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, symbiotics, plant extracts.

Delia-Laura Popescu is a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry in the Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry and Catalysis, and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bucharest. She has earned MSc in chemistry and PhD in green chemistry and homogeneous catalysis from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh, USA. She was a Teaching Fellow at Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, CMU. She has extensive teaching experience at bachelor and master levels in a variety of courses across diverse disciplines. Her current research focuses on porous materials with environmental applications, supramolecular hybrid metal-organic materials, and coordination systems with biological properties.

Serban Stamatin is lecturer at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Bucharest. Most of his current research interests and teaching activities are in bioelectrocatalysts for energy and environmental applications including biofuel cells with photosynthetic microorganisms for wastewater treatment and environmental remediation.

Irina Gheorghe-Barbu is Associated Professor at the Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Bucharest. She started her research carrier in 2011 in the field of AR during her PhD studies. She has acquired a background on the AR phenomenon in strains belonging to GNNF, mediated by mobile genetic elements (plasmids, integrons and transposons) and she has optimized a series of protocols working techniques (PFGE, MLST, Mapping PCR, Southern Blot hybridisation) during mobility fellowships in China and Portugal Universities and national projects.

Ilda Barbu is a Lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, where she teaches Resistance mechanisms to antimicrobial and antiviral compounds, General Microbiology, Applied Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Clinical Bacteriology, Clinical Virology. She has earned a PhD degree in Biology at the University of Bucharest and has acquired a background in Bioinformtics, Biology and molecular epidemiology of antibiotic resistance, Microbiology, Genetics, Genomics in West China and Portugal research centres.

Stockhom University

Ann-Kristin E Wiklund holds a PhD in Ecotoxicology and Docent (Associate Professor) in Environmental Science focusing on Ecotoxicology at Stockholm University. She has an extensive experience in experimental ecotoxicology in both laboratory and field environments. She has been working with both legacy contaminants (metals, PAH:s, and PCB:s) as well as emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and artificial sweeteners). As a scientist she has been working close to agencies developing environmental monitoring indicators and risk assessment schemes. In addition, she is Head of Education (Bachelor, Master, and PhD, currently 60 PhD students).

Rehab El-Shehawy holds a PhD in Microbiology and Docent (Associate Professor) in Environmental Microbiology at Stockholm University. Her research is focused on cyanobacteria-zooplankton predators and their microbiomes; host-microbiome and microbe-microbe interactions, cyanoHABs; bloom formation and toxin production under current and future climate change, bacterial biodegradation of cyanotoxins; functional diversity, pathways, and genetics, water-borne toxins in freshwater and their health effects in developing countries.

University of Glasgow

Michelle Bloor is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Interdisciplinary studies, University of Glasgow and an ecotoxicologist in the arena of chemicals, waste and pollution. She is the Past President of SETAC Europe (the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry), SETAC World Council Member, and President of SETAC UK Branch. She is a member of the Technical Advisory Group to UNEP’s Executive Director, Sherpa to the European Commission’s  High-Level Round Table for the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, PIANOFORTE partnership’s Advisory Board member, and UK Government Chemicals Stakeholder Forum member. Michelle is also a Senior Editor for the Sustainable Environment journal and Editor for the book series Issues on Environmental Science and Technology.

Makerere University

Godfrey Bwire (PhD) is a medical doctor, researcher, and policymaker. Godfrey is the current head of the division of public health emergency preparedness and response of the Republic of Uganda Ministry of Health. In addition, Godfrey is a research fellow in the department of Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Godfrey’s research interests are on infectious diseases, public health, and cholera.

This Blended Intensive Programme is organised with the participation of the Water Research Institute - National Research Council and the Laboratory for Biotechnological Processes for Energy and Industry Laboratory, ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development.