The Team

The "Cetacean Sanctuary Research" teams includes several skilled professionals. They are composed of a principal field investigator, researchers, and research assistants taking turns on board "Pelagos" and other research vessels during the field season. One or two Tethys researchers plus a variable number of research assistants provide the necessary scientific and logistic services on board, and share their knowledge and experience with volunteers in a variety of ways, including teaching research techniques and giving lectures on cetaceans and marine biology. The researchers hold a degree in Biology or Natural Sciences, and have significant prior experience in cetacean research. Research assistants are usually University students doing their theses in collaboration with Tethys.


Sabina Airoldi, graduated in Natural Sciences, has started to carry out research on cetaceans in 1987. She has worked with the Mediterranean Fin Whale Program for some years and has contributed to the founding and management of one of the main cetacean research and conservation programs carried out by the Tethys Research Institute in the Mediterranean Sea, the Ionian Dolphin Project. She has founded and directed (from 1996) the SLOPE - Squid Loving Odontocetes ProjEct, a long term research program on the social and behavioural ecology of the Odontocetes living in the Western Ligurian Sea. In the last years she has established photo-identification catalogues of different species (Risso's dolphin, sperm whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, bottlenose dolphin, long-finned pilot whale). She is experienced in the coordination of project personnel including field assistants and intern students. In addition to the scientific work she is also involved in public awareness activities, having held several lectures during popular meetings and numerous television appearances. A number of popular articles and pictures have been published by magazines and newspapers. She is the coordinator of the Cetacean Sanctuary Research and a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute. Sabina speaks Italian and English.
Arianna Azzellino earned her Bachelor Degree with a thesis on the "Strontium-90 Radio-Contamination From Chernobyl Fallout". In 1999 she got her PhD in Environmental Engineering at University of Technology in Milan (Politecnico di Milano). During her PhD she fell in love with statistics - especially with Multivariate Analysis. During the same period (since 2001) she began the collaboration with the SPSS Training division (the local Italian agency) mostly being involved with the analysis of biological and environmental data.Her first love for cetacean ecology is the reason why she has been collaborating with Tethys Research Institute since 1993. From 1999 she is a member of the Tethys Scientific Council. Her main topic of interest is the study of the driving factors affecting cetacean distribution and habitat selection in the Ligurian Sea Sanctuary. Presently she works as Researcher at Politecnico di Milano, dealing with issues such as environmental risk and impact assessment associated to territorial management strategies. Within her duties as Researcher at Politecnico, Arianna is Lecturer in "Pollution phenomenology and methods for pollution control" within the course of Urban and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Architecture (Politecnico di Milano, Milano) and "The design of environmental monitoring networks" within the course of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering (Politecnico di Milano, Cremona). She is a member of the Board of Directors of Tethys Research Institute.
Simone Panigada, Chair of the European Cetacean Society and Vice President of Tethys. He is a member of the ACCOBAMS Scientific Committee, of the Pelagos Sanctuary Technical and Scientific Committee and of the Italian Delegation at the IWC Scientific Committee. He holds a Degree in Biological Sciences and a PhD in Environmental Biology from the University of Siena. Since 1992 collaborates with Tethys and with the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project, where since 1998 he co-ordinates the radio tracking with Velocity-Time-Depth Recorder of fin whales in the Ligurian Sea. Since 2000 he has focused its interest on assessing the anthropogenic impacts, like ship strikes, threatening cetaceans in the Mediterranean, and in particular in the Pelagos Sanctuary. In November 2005 he organized and co-chaired two International Workshops hosted jointly by ACCOBAMS and the Pelagos Sanctuary, funded by the Italian Ministry of the Environment, on these issues. He serves as national contact point (NCP) in regard to ship strikes of cetaceans, within the Ship Strikes Working Group (SSWG) established within the Conservation Committee of the International Whaling Commission and chairs a steering group established within ACCOBAMS to assess and identify conservation and mitigation measures for ship strikes in the Mediterranean Sea. Has participated for two years to a Bioacoustical Workshop organised by Cornell University and has been invited to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the United States, as a guest student. He has also participated to different research cruises in the Mediterranean Sea and in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. In 2002 he has been invited for a six months stage at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Inland and Marine Waters Unit, of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and in 2003 he was awarded a Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the European Commission to work at the Sea Mammal Research Unit of the University of St Andrews. During summer 2004 he participated to the Mediterranean passage of the Voyage of the Odyssey as Chief Scientist and Science logistical coordinator. Simone can speak fluent English, Italian, French and basic Spanish.
Margherita Zanardelli has been the first graduate of Tethys Research Institute, with a Degree in Natural Sciences focusing on the acoustics of the striped dolphin and the Risso's dolphin. She has collaborated with Tethys since its foundation in 1986, and has been a member of the Board of Directors ever since. She has been President of the Institute from 1997 to 2000. In 1990, together with Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, she founded the Mediterranean Fin Whale Project, a long term research program on the ecology of a population of fin whales living in the Mediterranean Sea, directed by her since then. She is co-author of numerous scientific papers published within the project; she has been focusing her attention on the use of photo-identification techniques to assess population parameters and social structure. Since 2003 she has been appointed by the European Commission as evaluator for Ethical Review Panels. She can speak Italian, English and French.
Maddalena "Maude" Jahoda graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan in 1982 and has collaborated with Tethys since the Institute's establishment. She is involved in both research and public awareness. Since 1987 she has conducted cetacean surveys in various parts of the Mediterranean Sea and, since 1990, mainly in the Ligurian Sea with the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project. In 1992 she founded and directed a sub-project centerd around the behaviour of fin whales, developing a new, non-invasive, method of passive tracking of free-ranging whales. This research is mainly aimed at the monitoring of short-term reactions to human-caused disturbance. As professional journalist she has worked since 1981 for various Italian magazines and newspapers, writing many articles especially on nature and popular science. She has authored popular science books, edited home-videos, held lectures and talks during conferences and popular meetings, partecipated in TV and radio transmissions. She has worked as editor of the Tethys newsletter"Cetacea News" (1990 - 1991) and is now the editor of "Tethys News". She lives in Venice with her husband and her two kids.
Mauro Mariani holds a degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan, Italy. He used to teach Natural Sciences at secondary and high schools. In 1985 he started working as Curator at the Milan Aquarium and since 1988 he is the Director of this institution, carrying out various studies both in fresh- and seawaters. Mauro collaborates with different specialized magazines and helds numerous conferences at the general public and university level. He directs two magazines: "Quaderni della Civica Stazione Idrobiologica" and "Cose d'Acqua", published by the Municipality of Milan. He is member of several national and international scientific societies including the European Union Aquariums Curators. He translated various books on aquatic life and wrote volumes on aquariology and marine biology. Since 1996 Mauro collaborates with the SLOPE-CSR and he is fascinated by the "deep diving" odontocetes that feed on mesopelagic squids.

Massimo Arrigoni , graduated in Biological Sciences with a thesis on the photo-identification of the sperm whale, is specializing in Marine Biology at the University of Pisa. He began to collaborate with Tethys in 2006, working for the CSR project as a research assistant. Born close the lake of Como, Massimo hopes to go to live close to the sea. He speaks Italian and English.
Mauro Colla got his bachelor degree in Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Milan with a thesis on the effects of pesticide contamination in marine invertebrates. His first field experience was in Tanzania in 2004, where he took part in a survey to estimate the abundance of carnivore mammals. In 2006 he got involved in Tethys' Cetacean Sanctuary Research as a research assistant and in 2008 he participated to some research cruises as principle field investigator. In 2008 he got involved in the Ionian Dolphin Project and worked in Kalamos and in the Amvrakikos Gulf as a research assistant. Mauro has a SSI Advanced diving certificate and he works as a guide at the Milan Civic Aquarium. He also loves to take photos, dedicating much of his free time to this passion. For over a decade he took care of aquariums with reef fish and living corals, but when he realized that most aquarium fishes are caught illegally and that this business can harm tropical ecosystems, he decided to quit his hobby. Mauro speaks Italian and English.
Vittorio Fadda has previously studied and worked on micromammals at the Milan Museum of Natural History and at CNR in Rome, Italy. He started his "marine mammal experience" with Tethys by surveying the Greek Ionian islands in 1993. Since 1996, he has been involved in the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project, where his patient and attentive attitude and his accurate work on the photo-identification of Risso's dolphins represent a precious contribution. Vittorio also loves bird watching, gardening and meteorology. He speaks Italian, English and a little French.
Raffaella Galli holds a degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan, with a thesis on the Lepidoptera of the Ticino Park. After a course at the Ispra Research Center she has conducted studies on water pollution assessment of the Garda and Como lakes. Raffaella is specialized in Clinic Pathology and has been responsible of her laboratory of Pathological Anatomy for 7 years. Very good sailor, she holds a III FIPSAS, I Apnea Accademy and nautical licences and she has collaborated for many years with the Vela Flash Nautical Club of Sanremo, as assistant instructor. In 2006 Raffaella started her collaboration with the CSR project. Her mother language is Italian and she speaks some English.

Adriana Geraci graduated in Natural Science at the University of Pavia with a thesis on the feeding ecology of elasmobranchs in the Tyrrhenian Sea. In 2004 she started her collaboration with Tethys, participating in the Ionian Dolphin Project carried out in the Amvrakikos Gulf, Greece, and in cetacean monitoring in the Strait of Messina. Since 2006 she has been working as Tethys' administrative secretary and as environmental educator at the Civic Aquarium of Milan. She holds a Naui advanced diving licence. She can speak Italian, English and some French.

Caterina Lanfredi holds a Master Sc. Degree in Marine Biology at the University of Padova focused on cetaceans habitat modelling. Since 2001 she collaborates with Tethys Institute and with the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project as principal field investigator and data management. She has conducted cetacean surveys in different parts of the Mediterranean Sea, organized by national and international research organizations and she has attended at many workshops, seminaries and international meetings on cetaceans, marine conservation and fishery management. She has also conducted studies on risk assessment of anthropogenic sound emissions at sea environment. Currently she is working on oceanographic and remote sensing data to better understand their role in cetaceans distribution. Her main interests include marine ecology, physical oceanography, marine mammals conservation and fishery management. She likes sailing and travelling. Caterina speaks Italian and English.

Veronica Littardi graduated in Natural Science at the University of Genoa with an historical and biological thesis on the presence of the Cuvier's beaked whale in Ligurian Sea in the last six decades. During 2005 she earned an MSc in "Environmental communication". Veronica collaborates with the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project from 2004 as a researcher. In September 2004 she participated in a research cruise organized by the Italian National Research Centre (CNR) in the Ligurian Sea, to correlate the presence of different cetacean species with specific chemical and physical parameters. She currently collaborates with the Didactic Department of the Aquarium of Genova and is involved in environmental education at a primary school. She writes articles on different web sites and works as environmental-hike guide. Veronica loves diving. She speaks Italian, French and English.
Nino Pierantonio studies Environmental Sciences at the University of Venice, Italy. He entered the world of marine mammals in 2002, when he attended a University course. Since then, his interest in cetaceans and the threats affecting them has deepened. Nino collaborated with Tethys by participating in several research cruises, in the contest of different research programmes in the Cetacean Sanctuary, in the northern Adriatic Sea and in the eastern Ionian Sea. He is particularly fascinated by large cetaceans and has a special interest in primates. He likes statistics, jogging and cooking. Nino speaks Italian, English and French.
Enrico Pirotta graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan with a thesis on the photo-identification of Risso's dolphin. He is now specializing in Marine Biology at the University of Pisa, working with Tethys Research institute at a thesis on Risso's dolphin's distribution and habitat use. His collaboration with Tethys starts in 2007 as a research assistant for CSR project. He has always been involved in environment preservation, taking part in volunteering workcamps all over Europe, but his major interest remains the sea and Cetaceans in particular. He dreams about carrying on his work with the animals and specializing in statistical models, a tool that he considers fundamental for conservation. Moreover he loves photography and hopes to be able to use this passion for his studies and for education. Enrico speaks Italian, English and French.
Elisa Remonato holds a degree in Natural Sciences at University of Pavia with a thesis regarding the photo-identification of Risso's dolphin applied to population studies. Currently she is attending the Specialization Degree course in Nature Conservation at University of Parma. Since 2006 she collaborated with Tethys in the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project (SLOPE-CSR) as field researcher. Elisa is very interested in the social behaviour of Odontocete Cetaceans. In 2004 she worked in Greece with the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece on a project for the protection of marine turtles Caretta caretta. She's interested in studies on domestic and animals welfare and she's keen on photography and naturalistic trips. Elisa speaks Italian and English.
Alessia Scuderi holds a Degree in Biological Science at the University of Messina, with a thesis on the trophy- ecology of the Red Mullet. Currently she is working on her Specialization Degree in Marine Biology at the University of Pisa. As she was born in Reggio Calabria, a city on the Messina strait, she always had a strong bond with the sea. Alessia took part in different research studies, including one in Lampedusa for the protection of marine turtles Caretta caretta and on cetaceans in Sicily. In September 2007 she also participated in the IFAW/ACCOBAMS Cetacean Survey, conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. She worked with Oceanography services and Environment Resources Management Society about benthos sorting, I.B.E. sampling and analysis and plankton analysis. She got involved in the Cetacean Sanctuary Research project as a volunteer and in 2005 she started to collaborate as research assistant. Alessia loves travelling. She speaks Italian and English.
Francesca Zardin is a final year student in Natural Sciences at the University of Milan. Her degree thesis is on the bioacoustics of sperm whales, in collaboration with the Bioacoustics Center of the University of Pavia. She collaborates with Tethys as a research assistant at the CSR project since 2007. Francesca has attended specialization courses about cetaceans and the marine environment, and she has extensive field work experience with cetaceans and seals. She is also involved in scientific education at the Natural History Museum of Milan, where she hopes to transmit her passion for conservation to students. Always fond of the sea, she holds a scuba diving licence, a recreational ship master's license and has many years of work experience on board sailing ships. Her dream is to carry research on cetaceans and… listening the voice of whales everyday! Francesca speaks Italian, English and Portuguese.