Hi everyone,

I am an Italian marine biologist and I have recently moved back to my Country after seven years spent in Ireland where I obtained a PhD in Zoology and worked in the blue biotechnology field. However, my professional background includes also marine conservation and outreach activities carried out with WWF, Seasearch Ireland and other associations. For instance, I was involved for many years in projects focused on the conservation of the Loggerhead turtle in the South of Italy while in Ireland I contributed to activities aimed at informing divers and general public about marine sponge biology and diversity. Convincing people that sponges are animals and not plants has never stopped being a challenge!

I have recently realised that I would love to reroute my carrier back towards conservation, and I have also started developing a growing interest in marine social sciences because I believe that us humans need to be included in the big picture to be able to promote effective conservation initiatives.

In this view, I am looking for opportunities to create a network to help me gain more knowledge and experience in my new field of interest, and I am sure that the WildHub community would be really helpful for my professional growth. Moreover, I believe that I would have a lot to learn from everyone here's experiences in different conservation related projects. So I hope many of you will like to reach out, while on my side I will be happy to contribute to the community in any way I can!

Best wishes to everyone,

Maria Vittoria