The next appointment in the PhDTalks seminar series will take place on Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, in Grandori Room (Building 4), from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.

PhDTalks is a series of seminars and discussions among PhD candidates. The events aim to provide a space for networking among doctoral students and for engaging with the many projects developed within our department.

The speaker Eleonora Barbaccia will deliver a seminar entitled “Stakeholder-based eDNA monitoring framework for marine biodiversity management”

At the end of the event, a light refreshment will be offered, sponsored by the department.

The seminar will also be accessible online at the following link.

Abstract
Monitoring marine biodiversity at high spatio-temporal resolution remains constrained by the vast scale of ocean systems and the logistical, financial and taxonomic limitations of conventional surveys. As a result, available data are often fragmented, spatially restricted and temporally discontinuous, reducing their reliability for effective marine governance. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is based on the analysis of genetic material that organisms naturally release into their environment, allowing species detection from environmental samples without direct observation or capture. Within the eWHALE project, this research developed and validated an integrated monitoring model that combines eDNA, opportunistic platforms and stakeholder engagement to expand spatial coverage, increase sampling frequency and reduce operational costs. The framework provides a scalable pathway to generate policy-relevant marine biodiversity data that can directly inform strategic conservation planning and evidence-based marine management.

Speaker’s Bio
Eleonora holds an MSc in Marine Sciences from the University of Milano-Bicocca (2022). She is currently a PhD candidate (38th cycle) in Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA), Politecnico di Milano.