My principal fields of research are the integrative taxonomy and ecology of copepods. My taxonomic expertise is focused on planktonic species and on their developmental stages. I am responsible of mesozooplankton data-set at the Long Term Ecological Research MareChiara time-series (LTER, EU-IT 061) in the Gulf of Naples (Italy, Mediterranean Sea). I am author of Temora Baird, 1850. ICES Identification Leaflets for Plankton No. 195., Checklist of the Italian Fauna of LifeWatch-IT for Crustacea Copepoda Calanoida, Cyclopoida, Harpacticoida, Mormonilloida, Siphonostomatoida (marine planktonic) and collaborator of different Plankton Guides for Italian Ministry of the Environment, ICRAM and Marine Plankton: A Practical Guide to Ecology, Methodology and Taxonomy Edited by Claudia Castellani & Martin Edwards.
My expertise is regularly used to teach copepods identification to a wide range of learners, from outreach events, to university students and other research scientists. I consider WoRMS the most useful and user-friendly database and I am interested in expanding the incorporation of copepods HD-images in WoRMS by integrating with other databases. I have a particular interest in adding additional diagnostic character of species descriptions so that they are more readily available to users for identification purposes, and also biological and ecological traits.
