PLANHOTEL - Key Persons

Amedeo Ciccocioppo was born on the 24th of July 1987 in Legnano (VR). He attended the University of Pisa where he obtained the Bachelor's degree in "Ecological and Biodiversity Science" with a thesis on the identification of an alternative method for the restoration of Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson meadows. He continued his studies at University of Pisa to achieve the Master's Degree in "Marine Biology" with the internship at the "WWF Lampedusa Turtle Rescue Center" in Lampedusa (Italy), which was followed by the thesis entitled "Space-time distribution of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in the Pelagie Islands archipelago". Thanks to this writing, Amedeo won the travel grant for the "35th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtles" in Turkey. After the master's degree, from May 2015 to November 2015, he worked as marine biologist at the "Diamonds Athuruga Beach and Water Villas" in Athuruga, Maldives. During this working experience, he contributed to the "Coral Conservation Project" and actively collaborated with the "Manta Trust" and "The Maldives Whale Shark Research Program (MWSRP)". In April 2017 he published the scientific paper entitled "Geometric morphometry, shield models and biometry of the loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the central Mediterranean" in the scientific journal Amphibia-Reptilia (Volume 38, Number 2, 2017). Finally, from July 2016 to April 2017 he worked for the "MECR - Marine Environmental Consultancy & Research" company based in Doha as Relocation Officer and Team Leader of all projects concerning the seagrass, among the most recent we mention the "CP12 -E: additional dredging of the southern port channel" and the "New Port Project: excavation of the QEZ3 channel, walls of the quay and dredging of the canal".

Cinzia is the Resident Marine Biologist of Thudufushi island. She obtained her graduation at the University of Palermo, in Sicily (Italy). During her studies/research experiences, she has been focused on how Temperature and Ocean Acidification can actually affect calcifying organisms, such as mollusks, corals, and coralline algae. Cinzia did a few international experiences that helped her to build her self-confidence on climate change. In particular, she worked in collaboration with Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota (Florida), CoralEye Indonesian Reef Research Outpost in the Coral Triangle (Indonesia) and the University of Western Australia (Australia). Cinzia is really passionate about her job, in fact, she decided to become a marine researcher when she was 14 years old, and she never changed her mind about it. From diving in the Pacific and in the Atlantic Oceans for recreational and science reasons, she saw first-hand how coral reefs are being damaged. Having been fortunate to admire some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, she is now eager to combat its decline through research efforts.

Sara is a marine biologist graduated at the University of Padova (Italy) and her work is dedicated to marine ecology and conservation. During her studies she has developed a particular curiosity about the benthic species and my internship inside the IAMC-CNR ( National Research Centre ) in Sardinia, Italy, and inside the CReS, rescue centre for marine turtles and marine mammals, helped me to focus my attention on protected species and to the study and management of them from an ecological point of view. The working experience in Diamonds Athuruga is providing her the opportunity to improve her background skills and when she got involved in the Coral Rehabilitation Project she had the chance to learn new techniques in order to rehabilitate damaged coral reefs, and increase her knowledge about tropical ecosystem ecology.