Team:

Team

Back
to Journal

Operational Team

Camilla Bertolini

Camilla Bertolini is a marine ecologist, interested in studying ecosystem services and their drivers through experimental activities, both field and laboratory, to which she has recently begun to add modelling. She is also involved in the restoration of oyster beds. She received her Ph.D. from Queen's University of Belfast, and currently holds a Marie Curie Fellowship at Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Jane da Mosto

Jane da Mosto is co-founder of We are here Venice. She received her scientific training at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. She has been living and working in Venice since 1995 and is involved in consulting and activism in the field of climate change and the safeguarding of Venice and its Lagoon, collaborating with local institutions and various international organisations.

Alessandro Gasparotto

Alessandro Gasparotto is an environmental engineer specialised in soil, water and environment with a degree from the University of Padua and is a researcher at We are here Venice. For Vital he manages the GIS system holding the most up-to-date information on the reconstruction/protection of the salt marshes in the Lagoon, including variations in their morphological and ecological conditions over time.

Giorgia Pivato

Giorgia Pivato is the project manager of We are here Venice. She handles logistics arrangements and communication, dealing with the network of collaborators, partnerships and institutional relations, and is responsible for administration. She is coordinator of the Vital project, taking care of the organisation and optimisation of operation and activities, and acts as contact point for media and enquiries.

Margherita Scapin

Margherita Scapin is a researcher at We are here Venice and activist. She studied Economics, Philosophy and Politics at Ca ’Foscari University of Venice with a thesis on the role of blue carbon in climate change mitigation strategies, with VITAL as a case study. She was awarded the Excellence Masters Fellowship (2020/2022) by the Faculty of Science at the University of Geneva, to pursue her Master's degree in Environmental Sciences. During her academic and professional journey, she cultivates her passion for initiatives that address environmental challenges with creativity and innovation.

Eleonora Sovrani

Eleonora Sovrani, We are here Venice artistic director since 2016, is also a researcher and curator. She has worked on visual communication concerning the impact of large cruise ships on the city of Venice and other dimensions of the living city including housing and the ramifications of mass tourism. She documents the Vital activities and oversees cultural and artistic contextualisation as well as the communications.

Pietro Teatini

Pietro Teatini is Associate Professor of Hydrology and Hydraulic Constructions at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua. He won the "Paolo Gatto" International Prize of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei for modelling of the aquifer system beneath the Venice Lagoon. He is president of the UNESCO-IHP Land Subsidence International Initiative. His research relates to the modelling of natural and anthropogenic subsidence.

Claudia Zoccarato

Claudia Zoccarato is a researcher in Environmental Engineering at the University of Padua. She obtained her PhD in 2016 with a thesis entitled "Data Assimilation in Geomechanics: Characterization of Hydrocarbon Reservoirs". Her research interests are in the field of mathematical modelling of subsidence due to natural processes and anthropogenic activities related to the exploitation of underground resources.

Consultants

Massimo Fabris

Massimo Fabris is associate professor of Topography and Cartography at ICEA, University of Padua. He is mainly involved in 3-D geomatic surveying at small, medium and large scales and his research involves precision metric positioning and integration of multi-source, multi-resolution and multi-temporal metric data for the study of physical changes of soil.

Andrea Menin

Andrea Menin graduated in 1992 with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Padua with a structural focus. He has been a lecturer at the Department of Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering since 2012. His scientific activity involves the various aspects of field of surveying especially concerning the techniques and instruments of classical topography. Another aspect concerns the study, design and implementation of surveys using innovative methodologies.

Laura Onofri

Laura Onofri is an environmental economist who specialises in the development and application of methodologies for the valuation of natural capital and ecosystem services. She holds a PhD from the University of Maastricht and is an associate professor at the University of Padua. Parallel to her academic career, she has worked as a consultant for various international institutions, including the World Bank, FAO and the World Trade Organisation.

Paolo Peretti

Paolo Peretti is a hydraulic engineer specialised in the design of river maintenance works. He has in-depth knowledge of the problems of the Upper Adriatic rivers and the lagoons of the Po Delta, and has contributed to numerous studies and projects commissioned by the Veneto Region. He is a partner in Ipros Ingegneria Ambientale, a consultancy dealing with hydraulic civil engineering design with the aid of mathematical models.

Carolyn Smith

Carolyn Smith is a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of Cambridge. An architect by training, she has spent years researching the urban dynamics of the historic city of Venice. She analysed and mapped both historic and contemporary Lagoon restoration projects for Vital, contributing to the identification of the pilot project location for Offset.

Tom Spencer

Tom Spencer is Professor of Geography and Director of the Coastal Research Unit at the University of Cambridge. He works on physical geography at the intersection of the geological and biological sciences, and his research focuses on coastal geomorphology, coral reefs and related ecosystems. He is co-editor of Flooding and Environmental Challenges for Venice and its Lagoon (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Past Interns

Pietro Bortoluzzi

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy - 2020

Nicholas P. Hilaire

United States Naval Academy; USA - 2022

Charlie Mountain

University of Portsmouth; UK - 2022

Margherita Scapin

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy - 2019

Partners

Laguna~B
The Interregional Superintendence of Public Works
North Adriatic Sea Port Authority
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering of Padova University (UniPD)