Ask Women – on Oceans
Change the narrative with the women experts from the European databases of the ENWE network.
Dear reader,
Greetings!
And welcome to our May issue of Ask Women, brought to you by the European Network for Women Excellence (ENWE) in collaboration with the women experts’ databases in our network, which include 100esperte, AcademiaNet, Agenda d’Expertes, Expertalia, and Les Expertes.
This Edition’s Theme:
World Oceans Day (8 June)
This edition is dedicated to the upcoming World Oceans Day, on June 8 – although the 2024 event will be celebrated on Friday, June 7. The day aims to raise awareness about the impacts of human actions on the ocean, foster a global movement for its protection, and promote sustainable management practices.
Meet the experts
Below, you’ll find the profiles and contacts of women experts in various fields available for interviews, panel discussions, events, and other opportunities.
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Please note:
you may have to change the language setting to ENG at the top right of the 100esperte website to view the profiles in English language.
ELISABETTA ERBA
Professor in Paleontology at the University of Milano and past president of the Italian Geological Society, Erba specializes in calcareous nanofossils used for dating through biostratigraphy and paleo-oceanographic reconstructions. Her studies focus on interactions between the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere and the relationships between atmospheric CO2, climate, and ocean ecosystems.
SERENA FONDA UMANI
Former Professor of Ecology at the University of Trieste. Her research focuses on marine ecosystem dynamics, carbon fluxes, the study of plankton ecology, and marine microbial ecology, aiming to estimate the carbon fluxes within the pelagic-microbial food chain to check whether there is selection by predators on prokaryotes.
MARIA CRISTINA GAMBI
Marine Biologist and Associate researcher at the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) in Trieste, Gambi studies marine benthic invertebrates' diversity, evolutionary biology, and ecology. She has identified key species resistant to various climate change stress factors, particularly ocean acidification, that can be used as models to study acclimatization and adaptation to local conditions.
BLANCA AUSÍN
Prof. Dr. Blanca Ausín is Head of the Biogeoscience Laboratory at the University of Salamanca. She focuses on the study of terrestrial and marine biomarkers, used in Earth and Marine Sciences to inform on climate change and environmental conditions.
JORIJNTJE HENDERIKS
Prof. Dr. Jorijntje Henderiks is Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences; Palaeobiology, Uppsala University. She specializes in Earth Sciences and Marine Micropaleontology, with a particular emphasis on current and past climate change as well as the evolution and adaptation of marine unicellular algae.
BIRTE MATTHIESSEN
Dr. Birte Matthiessen is a researcher at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. She studies the consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem functioning as well as the effects of global change on biodiversity and its consequences for ecosystem functioning.
HILDEGARD WESTPHAL
Prof. Dr. Hildegard Westphal is Professor for Geology of the Tropics at the University of Bremen, and Workgroup Leader at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research. She researches coral reefs, microplastic in the marine environment, environmental change and the reaction of carbonate ecosystems to environmental changes.
ELIA DURÁ CANDELA
In recent years, she served as a technical advisor for the Santa Pola Beaches Department, implementing EN ISO standards while managing suppliers. She assessed bird populations in Sax, leading environmental evaluations and conservation strategies. From 2011 to 2013, she supported the CSIC Spectroradiometry and Remote Sensing Lab, working on BIOSPEC, FUME, and FLUXPEC projects. Additionally, she contributed to marine ecology projects like CUBOMED in 2009 and 2010.
FRANCISCA GIMÉNEZ CASALDUERO
A researcher with over 20 years of experience in marine sciences, specializing in marine and coastal management, marine pollution, and human impacts on biological systems. With a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (1997), she's been a professor of Marine Biology and Oceanography at the University of Alicante since 2004.
FYI:
For World Oceans Day, the University of Liège (Belgium) is taking action and offers conferences, interactive workshops, screenings, exhibitions, etc. More info on their website. Several researchers from the University of Liège are on Expertalia!
KRISHNA DAS
Krishna Das heads the WildTox research group, which focuses on the ecotoxicological, ecological and physiological responses of marine vertebrates to chemical pollution in the oceans.
SYLVIE GOBERT
Sylvie Gobert is an oceanographer. She is head of the Oceanology Laboratory and a research fellow in Biological Oceanography at the Faculty of Science, University of Liège.
MARILAURE GRÉGOIRE
Research director at the FNRS and Grégoire has founded a group that is active in ocean modelling. This group studies, among other things, the effect of various climatic (e.g. warming, deoxygenation) and non-climatic (e.g. eutrophication of waters) pressures on ecosystems.
MARIANNA PINZONE
Marianna Pinzone is a postdoctoral researcher for the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (the "OSPAR Convention"). Her research interests include the toxicology of marine fauna and the use of marine predators as sentinel species for their environment.
ANNE PETRENKO
Physical oceanographer specializing in marine circulation and, in particular, vertical velocities. As a teacher-researcher, she really enjoys these two aspects of her job. For over 10 years, she has been co-director of the Physical Oceanography and Biogeochemistry course in the Marine Sciences Masters at Aix-Marseille University.
LOUISE RAS
A graduate from Sciences Po Bordeaux and a dinghy instructor, Ras decided to use her skills to help marine protection. She worked with Plateforme Océan et Climat and Océanopolis in Brittany on the "ResponSEAble" project promoting "Ocean Literacy" (education about the ocean). She co-founded Sailing Hirondelle to foster sustainable ocean-human relations.
ENWE is committed to fostering dialogue, promoting diversity, and amplifying the voices of women experts across Europe. With Ask Women, we aim to showcase the incredible achievements and insights of these talented professionals, helping to bridge the gender gap in the media and beyond.
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