Meet Giulia, our new PhD student in the ECOREACH group. Her research, supervised by Vânia Baptista, will focus on how fish larvae navigate coastal environments and how climate change impacts their recruitment. After completing her Master’s thesis at CCMAR and joining a Mediterranean expedition with the One Ocean Foundation, Giulia is excited to return to Faro to continue exploring marine ecology.
Tell us a bit about the work you’ll be doing at CCMAR
In the next few years, I'll be pursuing my PhD in the ecology of fish larvae. My research will be conducted as part of the “Finding Home – Discovering the Lost Phase of Fish Species” project. The project as a whole aims to assess the ability of fish larvae to control their movement within coastal environments, determine whether healthy transitional ecosystems provide the right cues and conditions for larval recruitment, and evaluate the potential effects of climate change on these processes in temperate and tropical regions.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
In my free time, I love meeting with friends, playing sports and reading, as well as enjoying the sea and the sun as much as possible.
What were you doing before you joined us?
In 2024, I completed my Master’s thesis at CCMAR as part of the IMBRSea programme. In the past year, I worked on a scientific expedition in the Mediterranean Sea with the One Ocean Foundation, where I had the opportunity to live on a Catamaran for two and a half months, collecting samples, coordinating scientific activities onboard, and travelling through the Ionian and Aegean Seas. I am now very happy to be back at CCMAR, excited to embark on my PhD, and looking forward to enjoying everything Faro has to offer.
Meet Giulia, our postdoctoral researcher whithin the HotClim project in the Oceanography and Climate Change group.
Tell us a bit about the work you’ll be doing at CCMAR
My work will focus on reconstructing sea surface temperatures along the Iberian margin during the mid-Piacenzian warm period (3 to 3.3 million years ago) through geochemical analyses of alkenones. This research will provide insights into how the climate system responds to a warm, high-CO2 world, helping us better understand future climate dynamics and their environmental impacts.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work I love spending time outdoors, especially in the mountains and by the ocean. I also enjoy travelling and discovering new places and cultures.
What were you doing before you joined us?
Before joining CCMAR I completed my PhD in a joint program between the Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Barcelona. During my PhD I investigated Mediterranean thermohaline circulation since the last deglaciation, using benthic foraminifera and geochemical tracers to explore past changes in the Mediterranean climate and circulation.
