Master thesis opportunity
Master thesis on biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean in Naples...
11.03.2025
Thesis topics on biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean Sea to be conducted at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, Italy.
The study will address biodiversity loss in the eastern Mediterranean by quantifying taxonomic diversity in living assemblages and compare it to a baseline reconstructed from death assemblages. The thesis is thus suitable for students in both the life and earth sciences.
More context is available in this paper:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.2469
The student will sort benthos samples learning to distinguish the most frequent phyla of marine invertebrates and will then learn to identify molluscs at the species level. Data analysis is focused on comparison of
species richness in living and death assemblages to quantify change and is better conducted in the R statistical environment. Reporting will follow home institutions' expectations.
Students are expected to spend at least four months in Naples to conduct lab work, preferably starting in early September 2025. Data analysis and thesis writing may be conducted back at home institutions, despite data
analysis is more easily supervised in person.
Interested candidates may contact me at pgalbano@gmail.com