Claudio Lo Iacono

Senior Researcher
Department
Extension
445616
Office
B-49

My expertise builds on geomorphology and bio-geomorphology, sedimentary dynamics, seafloor mapping and benthic habitat characterization, with methodologies spanning from standard to high resolution geophysics and marine robotics (AUVs and ROVs). I am interested in understanding the evolution of dynamic environments (bedform fields, submarine canyons, cold-water coral mounds) across nested spatial and temporal scales, with a specific focus on deciphering and quantifying the interactive processes between physical constraints and benthic habitats of cold-water coral ecosystems. Further topics are science-based support to management procedures of deep-sea natural resources, assessment of human impact (fishing industry, marine litter) on deep-sea environments. The above mentioned topics require a strong multidisciplinary and holistic approach, bringing together several disciplines as high-resolution geophysics, geomorphology, ecology, oceanography, which allowed me to build a comprehensive and integrated understanding of continental margin dynamics and its role on ecosystem functioning. I was involved in >40 national and international past and on-going research projects in the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian Sea, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including coordinating roles within EU projects.