In 2016 I decided to post publicly each year a summary of my scientific activities. I was inspired by Piet Hut, my host at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, who’s posting every year detailed reports of his activities. I think this benefits both myself, as it bring into focus what I’ve been spending my time on during the year, and the public at large. Since my science is largely funded with taxpayers money it is good to be transparent about the activities carried out.
Lately I’ve written a short 5 year report regarding my activity at the University fo Naples Federico II in the first 5 years i’ve been here. The Italian version is available here, the English version will be available soon.
Meetings, Conferences and Presentations. During 2023 I was Theme Chair for Theme 8 “CO-EVOLUTION OF LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTS” of the Goldschmidt Conference, Lyon (France) and Chair of the Geosphere-Biosphere Coevolution session at the Congress of the Italian Astrobiological Society, Rome (Italy). I was invited speaker at the Microbial Stress Meeting, Vienna (Austria), the GRC in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Massachusetts (USA), the One Health Microbiology Seminars, University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and invited to speak in 5 additional events. Directly or with my group we presented 22 contributions between talks and posters at 7 major National or International conferences.
Laboratory, Data Analysis and Field Work. Co-organizer of a field expedition to sample the hot springs in the Puna Plateau in Argentina. Co-organizer of a field expedition to sample the hot springs in Iceland. Participated in a research expedition led by Prof. Alberto Vitale Brovarone (UNIBO, Italy) to sample in Mongolia. Participated in a research expedition led by Dr. James Bradly (CNRS, France) to sample in the West Antractic Peninsula. Contributed to data analysis and supervision of laboratory activities for the ERC CoEvolve project. Contributed to data analysis of metagenomic and geochemical dataset collected from shallow-water hydrothermal vents and hot springs in different locations and the global analysis of dataset at the interface between geology and microbiology. Worked on a number of side projects in collaborators with master students and colleagues.
Research Grants and Proposals. Awarded a PRIN (Progetti Ricerca Interesse Nazionale) to study the competing biotic and abiotic processes in underground carbon and hydrogen storage (Co-PI). Awarded a PRA (Programma Ricerca in Artico) to establish a microbial observatory to measure gas fluxes and microbial activity in the Arctic (Co-PI). Awarded a PNRA (Programma di Ricerche in Antartide) to stujd the geology and microbiology of mud volcanoes in the Ross Sea (Co-PI). Awarded a PRIN (Progetti Ricerca Interesse Nazionale) to study the microbial diversity of Encelado analogs (Collaborator). Collaborating in writing a EU COST Action on Hydrogen (pending). Participating in the Eu Resiliency Funds PNRR National Center for Biodiversity Future and the MIRRI infrastructure initiatives. Worked on the ERC Starting Grant CoEvolve (PI), on the PRA Melting ICE (PI), on the PRIN IdeARG (Collaborator) and on the Industrial project in collaboration with ENI (PI). Worked on the ICDP funded DIVE project (Co-PI). Submitted 4 additional proposals.
Papers, Manuscripts and Technical Reports. During 2023 I contributed to 13 published papers, 3 additional preprints and 6 new manuscript are near submission. Published a paper in Nature Review Earth and Environment on the role of trace elements in controlling microbial functional diversity (single author). Published a paper on the microbial diversity of shallow-water hydrothermal vents in Frontiers in Microbiology (corresponding author). Published a paper on the use of lab-on-chip technology for space microbiology in Frontiers in Microbiology (corresponding author). Published Published a paper in Plos ONE on the role of heterotrophy in the subsurface (coauthor). Published a review in Eassay in Biochemistry on the role of ocidoreductases in the functioning of biogeochemistry (corresponding author). Contribute to a paper published in Global and Planetary Change discussing the link between geodynamics and topography (coauthor). Contributed to a paper appeared in the Minerals journal discussing biomining in space operations (coauthor).Contributed to a review published in Environmental Science and Technology on the role of microbial methanogenesis in underground carbon storage (coauthor). Contributed to a paper on gut microbiome appeared in Heliyon (coauthor). Contributed to a paper on the microbiology of the southern ocean published in Microorganisms (corresponding author). Contributed to a paper looking for the hydrothermal condition on early Mars published in Astrobiology (coauthor). Contribute to a paper on the fractionation of noble gases in the subsurface published in Scientific Advances (coauthor). Contributed to a paper discussing the functional diversity of subsurface microbes in subduction zones published in ISMEJ (coauthor). Published in Open Research Europe two articles describing the lab Standard Operating Practices for the analysis of ions and trace elements in geothermal fluids (corresponding author). Contributed a chapter to the Spinger edited book Thermophiles (coauthor). Published a preprint discussing degassing from shallow water hydrothermal vents currently under revision (corresponding author). Contributed to several manuscript currently at different stages of preparation or submission raging a number of geobiological topics.
Editorial Roles and Servicing. Reviewed six manuscript for international peer-reviewed journals and 3 proposal for major German, Italian and EU funding agencies. Co-editing a Springer Nature book on Deep-Sea Microbiology, with Costantino Vetriani, expected in late 2024. Served as a member of the Carbon working group of the Italian National Research Council. Served on the Italian Space Agency round table on Microbiology for Space Exploration. Contributed to design a new Graduate Program in the “Biology of Extreme Environments”, currently pending approval. The program will have two distinct curricula in the “Biological Resources of Extreme Environments” and “Astrobiology”.
Teaching and Outreach. Coordinator of the Master Degree Program in the “Biology of Extreme Environments”, currently in its this year of existence and with 35 enrolled students for the first year class of this semester. Taught a graduate class in the Microbiology of Extreme Environments at the University of Naples “Federico II” with ca. 35 students enrolled. Taught a highly interactive graduate class in Microbial Metabolism and Habitability at the University of Naples “Federico II” in the spring with ca. 20 students enrolled. Taught a graduate class in Geomicrobiology and Biogeochemistry in the Global CHnage curricula of Natural Sciences at the University of Naples with 25 students enrolled. Served on the Master Degree commission for the graduation of a 6 master student at the University of Naples “Federico II”. Primary advisor of 9 PhD Student, primary advisor or co-advisor of 7 Master students and 1 Undergraduate students at the University of Naples “Federico II”. Primary advisor of 3 postdoc. Released several interviews and appeared on several newspaper articles and blog posts. Participated in 3 major science festivals. Co-wrote and participated in a Rai Radio3 original podcast ABISSI, currently available in streaming online on RaiPlay Sound. Interviewed 4 times on national radio. Participated in several high school events to promote science, and gave 6 outreach talks to public events.
Prizes and awards. none
Other Activities. Advisory role for the Nano-Tech SpA company for which I am a co-founder and I served as member of the Board of Directors until December 2018 continues. In 2023 the company was awarded a European Innovation Award Grant First (participated as co-founder and expert to the panel interview).
Meetings, Conferences and Presentations. Member of the International Advisory Board for the 2021 international conference Extremophiles 2021 (Greece), moved from 2020. Gave five invited talks at different international universities (Rutgers University, University of Texas, WHOI, ELSI, DiSTAR UNINA). Co-organizer of the first Italian Remote Conference on the Evolution of Marine Organisms and chaired a session. Presented one talk and coauthored one poster at the same conference. Member of the European Local Organizing Committee for the 8th ELSI Symposium “Science and Society”. Theme Chair for Theme 8 “CO-EVOLUTION OF LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTS” of the Goldschmidt Conference, Lyon, France. Invited Speaker GRC Conference Geochemistry of Mineral Deposits, Barcellona, Spain. Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Invited Speaker IAS Conference, Prague, Czech Republic. Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Co-author of one poster at the Goldschmidt Conference, Hawaii, USA. Presented at the first Italian Astrobiology Congress, organized by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana and the Italian Society for Astrobiology.
Laboratory, Data Analysis and Field Work. Co-organizer of a field expedition to sample the hot springs in the Central Volcanic Zone of Chile. Worked in collaboration with Giuseppe D’Errico at the sample database to host the Biology Meet Subduction Project results www.coevolvedb.com. Contributed to data analysis of the microbiology in the Antarctic cores of IODP expedition 374 together with Jeanine Ash and Jennifer Biddle. Performed analysis on the samples collected in the framework of the Biology Meets Subduction project. Contributed to data analysis of metagenomic and metaproteomic dataset collected from shallow-water hydrothermal vents and hot springs in different locations. Directed the data analysis connected with the interdisciplinary effort of the Mineral-Microbes projects. Kept working at the creation of three connected databases to investigate the relationship between microbial functional diversity and trace elements availability. Worked on a number of side projects in collaborators with master students and colleagues.
Research Grants and Proposals. Awarded a ERC Starting Grant 2020 (PI). Awarded a MED project tot he EU (Collaborator). Awarded a NSF grant to study deep-sea hydrothermal vents (Collaborator). Submitted a grant to the Italian Antarctic Program PNRA (pending, PI). Submitted a grant to the Italian Arctic Program PRA (declined, PI). Submitted a PhD proposal to the new Italian PhD program in AI (pending, PI). Submitted a NSF FRES grant (declined, collaborator). Collaborated on writing a Marie Curie Doctoral Program project (pending). Collaborated on writing a BlueMed PanoraMed project on Blue Biotechnologies (awarded). Submitted the revised ICDP DIVE project (awarded, Co-PI). Collaborated at a Horizon2020 project (declined, collaborator). Submitted a proposal for funding to the Blue Marine Foundation (declined, PI).
Papers, Manuscripts and Technical Reports. Published a paper in Nature Communication on deep sources of energy for subsurface microbial communities in subduction zones (co-author). Published a paper on large scale data analysis in Frontiers in Earth Science (co-corresponding author). Published a paper on the microbiome of marine plastic debris in Frontiers in Marine Science (co-author). Published two review papers as part f the Earth in Five Reactions series in American Mineralogist (co-author). Published a paper on the Biology Meets Subduction project in Eos (first and corresponding author).Submitted a revised version of the paper on the microbiology of subduction zones (co-corresponding author). Contributed to a paper on the microbiology of the Ross Sea water column (co-author).
Editorial Roles and Servicing. Reviewed eight manuscript for international peer-reviewed journals and five proposal for major USA, German and EU funding agencies and Foundations. Co-editing a Springer Nature book on Deep-Sea Microbiology, with Costantino Vetriani, expected in early 2021. Served as a member of the Carbon working group of the Italian National Research Council. Served on the Italian Space Agency round table on Microbiology for Space Exploration. Contributed to design a new Graduate Program in the “Biology of Extreme Environments”, currently pending approval. The program will have two distinct curricula in the “Biological Resources of Extreme Environments” and “Astrobiology”.
Teaching and Outreach. Taught a graduate class in Applied Microbiology at the University of Naples “Federico II” in the spring with ca. 220 students enrolled. Taught a graduate class in Marine Microbial Diversity at the University of Naples “Federico II” in the spring with ca. 30 students enrolled. Used Wikipedia as a writing assignment in the Marine Microbial Diversity class. Member of the PhD committee of a PhD candidate at University of Tennessee Knoxville (USA). Served on the Master Degree commission for the graduation of a five master student at the University of Naples “Federico II”. Primary advisor of one PhD Student, primary advisor or co-advisor of fourteen Master students and six Undergraduate students at the University of Naples “Federico II”. Released several interviews and appeared on several newspaper articles and blog posts. Participated to the Futuro Remoto initiative and Meet Me Tonight initiative Appeared on the Netflix science documentary series Alien Worlds.
Prizes and awards. none
Other Activities. Third year of collaboration with the local winemaker firm Alberto Serenelli. Advisory role for the Nano-Tech SpA company for which I am a co-founder and I served as member of the Board of Directors until December 2018. Kept working with selected startups within the project The Foundry.
Meetings, Conferences and Presentations. Member of the International Advisory Board for the 2020 international conference Extremophiles 2020 (Greece). Organized a DCO Deep Live Modeling and Visualization Workshop and datathlon with 20 participants from different universities and research groups at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ, USA). Invited Speaker at the DULIABio Astrobiology conference at the INFN Gran Sasso National Underground Laboratory (Assergi, Italy). Invited speaker at the final international science meeting of the Deep Carbon Observatory, DeepCarbon2019 (Washington DC, USA). Invited talk at the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Science of the University of Bremen (Bremen, Germany). Invited talk at the Marine Science Institute of the Middle Eastern Technical University, METU (Erdemli, Turkey). Participated to the final meeting of the NSF funded Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) meeting (Marina, CA, USA). Participated to the International Geochemical Society, Goldschmidt International Conference (Barcellona, Spain). Participated to the Italian Antartctic Program workshop “Oceano Antartide”, University of Parthenope (Naples, Italy). Participated to the Deep-Time Data Workshop, University of Idhao (Moscow, ID, USA). Contributed with 3 posters and 4 talks (as co-author) at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco (USA).
Laboratory, Data Analysis and Field Work. Organizer of a field campaign to sample subaerial and underwater geothermal vents in the Aeolian Islands, Italy. Co-Organizer with Maarten de Moor (OVSICORI) of a sampling field campaign in the volcanic region of the Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica. Co-Organizer of the scientific expedition along the volcanic backarc of the Argentinian Andes as part of the follow up to the Biology Meet Subduction Project. Contributed to the design and data analysis of the microbiology in the Antarctic cores of IODP expedition 374 together with Jeanine Ash and Jennifer Biddle. Designed, supervised and organized the set up of the new environmental microbiology laboratory at the University of Naples. Performed analysis on the samples collected in the framework of the Biology Meets Subduction projects. Contributed to data analysis of metagenomic and metaproteomic datasets collected from shallow-water hydrothermal vents and hot springs in different locations. Directed the data analysis connected with the interdisciplinary effort of the Mineral-Microbes projects. Kept working at the creation of three connected databases to investigate the relationship between microbial functional diversity and trace elements availability.
Research Grants and Proposals. Submitted a ISCRA C High Performance Computing project to Cineca to access the Marconi2 super computing cluster (awarded, Co-PI). Submitted a project to the Italian Arctic Program (pending, PI). Submitted a National Science Foundation grant to the MCB program (declined, Co-PI). Submitted a Canadian National Science Program Synergy grant (declined, Collaborator). Submitted a proposal to NSF Frontiers in Earth Science (declined, Co-PI). Submitted a grant to the Italian Ministry of Research in the PRIN program (declined, Collaborator). Submitted a EU HORIZON 2020 grant (declined, WP member). Submitted a grant to the ERC Starting Grant Scheme (pending, PI). Submitted a grant to the CEINGE Call for Junior PI fellowships (canceled, PI). Submitted a grant to the LIFEWatch distributed laboratory for sequencing (awarded, PI). Submitted a grant top the Campania Region FEAMP program (awarded, Action leader). Started to work on a COST action. Submitted a proposal to the NASA Habitable Worlds program (pending, Collaborator). Supported a proposal to NSF for a RCN (pending, Collaborator). Supported a proposal to the Chilean FONDECYT (awarded, Collaborator). Supported a proposal to NSF for a large computing facility (pending, Collaborator). Supported a proposal to NSF Biological Oceanography program (awarded, Collaborator).
Papers, Manuscripts and Technical Reports. Published a paper in Frontiers in Microbiology on limit of life and planetary exploration (corresponding author). Published an editorial in American Mineralogist on the deep carbon cycle through five reactions (co-author). Published two invited chapters on the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences on the microbiology (first author and corresponding) and geochemistry (co-author) of shallow-water hydrothermal vents. Published a Nature paper on the role of biotic and abiotic processes in removing volatiles from subduction zones (co-author). Worked on a paper on the contribution to global degassing of shallow-water hydrothermal vents (first author and corresponding). Wrote a paper on the comparative genomic of the Sulfurovum genus (first author). Published a review paper on the role of carboxylating/decarboxylating reaction contribution to the functioning of life and the planet (co-author). Published a book chapter on the use of network analysis in geobiosciences in the Cambridge Press book Whole Earth Carbon (co-author). Published a review on the history and philosophy of the origin of life research (co-author). Contributed to a review on the role of hydration/dehydration reaction contribution to the functioning of life and the planet (co-author). Contribute to an article appeared as preprint on the microbiome of world cities as part of the MetaSUB consortia (consortium member). Contributed to an article appeared as preprint on the role of plate tectonic in influencing bacterial diversity in subduction zones (co-corresponsing author). Contributed to a paper on the microbial diversity associated with marine plastic debris (co-author). Contributed to a paper on the use of network analysis in data science (co-author). Published a data paper in Scientific Data about the Biology Meets Subduction dataset recently released to the public (co-author).
Editorial Roles and Servicing. Collaborated on the co-editing of a special issue of American Mineralogist entitled “Earth in five reactions”. Reviewed seven manuscript for international peer-reviewed journals and six proposal for major USA, UK and EU funding agencies and Foundations. Co-editing a Springer Nature book on Deep-Sea Microbiology, with Costantino Vetriani, expected in late 2019. Served as a member of the Carbon working group of the Italian National Research Council.
Teaching and Outreach. Taught and prepared the teaching materials for a graduate class in Applied Microbiology at the University of Naples “Federico II” in the spring with ca. 100 students enrolled. Taught and prepared the teaching materials for a graduate class in Marine Microbial Diversity at the University of Naples “Federico II” in the spring with ca. 20 students enrolled. Used Wikipedia as a writing assignment in the Marine Microbial Diversity class. Member of the PhD committee of a PhD candidate at METU. Member of the PhD committee of a candidate at Rutgers University. Served on the Master Degree commission for the graduation of a msater student at UNINA. Primary advisor of one PhD Student, primary advisor or co-advisor of eleven Master students and seven Undergraduate students at the University of Naples “Federico II”. Co-mentored two high school exchange students. Invited speaker at the FISV Days 2019 to speak about life and planet coevolution to ca. 600 high school students. Released few interviews and appeared on several newspaper articles and blog posts.
Prizes and awards. none
Other Activities. Second year of collaboration with the local winemaker firm Alberto Serenelli. Advisory role for the Nano-Tech SpA company for which I am a co-founder and I served as member of the Board of Directors until December 2018. Kept working with selected startups within the project The Foundry.
Meetings, Conferences and Presentations. Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee and invited speaker (the talk is visible here) at the 6th ELSI International Symposium (Tokyo, Japan). Member of the International Advisory Board, session chair and invited speaker at the international conference Extremophiles 2018 and co-author of three posters (Ischia, Naples, Italy). Member of the Organizing Committee and Invited Speaker of the international workshop 4D Deep-time Data Driven Discovery and co-author of two posters (Washington DC, USA). Member of the Organizing Committee and session chair of the DCO international workshop Earth in Five Reactions (Washington DC, USA). Invited speaker at the Gordon Research Conference in Marine Microbiology (Lucca, Italy). Invited Speaker at the International Deep Life Symposium (Shanghai, China). Invited Speaker at the Gordon Research Conference in Deep Carbon Science and co-author of one poster (Rhode Island, USA). Invited Speaker at the 7th edition of Intercollegiate Biotechnology Symposium SYMBIOZA Warsaw, Poland. Invited Speaker at the Interdisciplinary Carbon Cycle Workshop (Pisa, Italy). Co-author of contributions (talks and posters) at the AGU Fall Meeting (Washington DC, USA). Attended the GeoDeepDive Workshop (University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI, USA). Invited participant at the DCO Deep Life Modelling and Visualization workshop (Tempe, USA).
Laboratory, Data Analysis and Field Work. Taken part to the expedition to sample the hot springs and shallow-water intertidal vents of Kagoshima, Japan. Co-PI and Co-Organizer of the SubductCR scientific expedition leg 2 along the forearc, volcanic arc and back-arc of Costa Rica and Panama as part of the Biology Meet Subduction Project. Contributed to the design, data collection and data analysis of the large scale microbial diversity project PerTRE across the surface sediments of the adriatic Sea. Contributed to the design and analysis of a project to investigate the microbial communities of beaching plastic debris. Performed analysis on the samples collected in the framework of the Biology Meets Subduction projects. Contributed to data analysis of metagenomic and metaproteomic datasets collected from shallow-water hydrothermal vents and hot springs in different locations. Directed the data analysis connected with the interdisciplinary effort of the Mineral-Microbes projects. Worked at the creation of three connected databases to investigate the relationship between microbial functional diversity and trace elements availability.
Research Grants and Proposals. Submitted a NASA TWSC grant to support US scientist in attending the 2018 Extremophiles conference (awarded, Co-PI). Submitted a ISCRA C High Performance Computing project to Cineca to access the Marconi2 supercomputing cluster (awarded, PI). Submitted a project to the italian Rita Levi Montalcini Grant Scheme (pending, PI). Submitted a National Science Foundation grant to the MCB program (declined, Co-PI). Submitted a National Science Foundation grant to the Biological Oceanography program (declined, Co-PI). Submitted a proposal to DARPA (pending, Collaborator). Submitted a grant to the Italian Ministry of Research in the PRIN program (declined, Collaborator). Worked to write a project within the EU HORIZON 2020 grant scheme (to be submitted 2019). Submitted a grant to the Italian Antarctic Program PNRA (pending, PI). Submitted a grant to the International Continental Drilling Program ICDP (declined, invited to resubmit, Co-PI). Submitted a grant to National Geographic (declined, Collaborator). Submitted a fellowship request to the Deep Carbon Observatory Deep Life Modeling and Visualization (awarded, PI). Worked on a grant to sample hot springs along the South American arc and back arc to be submitted in 2019.
Papers, Manuscripts and Technical Reports. Published a paper in Frontiers in Microbiology on the ecological succession of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in a shallow-water hydrothermal vent (co-author). Published an editorial in American Mineralogist on the deep carbon cycle through five reactions (co-author). Published two invited chapters on the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences on the microbiology (first author and corresponding) and geochemistry (co-author) of shallow-water hydrothermal vents. Published a paper in Environmental Microbiology proposing new pathway of elemental sulfur reduction in a deep-branching bacteria (co-author). Submitted a high profile paper on the role of biotic and abiotic processes in removing volatiles from subduction zones (co-authors). Worked on a paper on the contribution to global degassing of shallow-water hydrothermal vents (first author and corresponding). Wrote a paper on the comparative genomic of the Sulfurovum genus (first author). Contributed to a review paper on the role of carboxylating/decarboxylating reaction to the functioning of life and the planet (co-author). Contributed to a book chapter on the use of network analysis in geobiosciences to appear in the Cambridge Press book Whole Earth Carbon (co-author). Wrote an invited review paper on the role of life’s limit in planetary con text (submitted, corresponding author).
Editorial Roles and Servicing. Collaborated on the co-editing of a special issue of American Mineralogist entitled “Earth in five reactions“. Reviewed eight manuscript for international peer-reviewed journals and several proposal for major USA and UK funding agencies. Collaborated on the editing of a Springer Nature book on Deep-Sea Microbiology, with Costantino Vetriani, expected in late 2019.
Teaching and Outreach. Taught five guest lectures at University of Rome La Sapienza during the spring and fall meeting. Member of the PhD committee of the PhD candidate Ashley Grosche at Rutgers University, who successfully defended in August. Member of the master committee of the MSc student Maria Magliulo at the University of Naples Federico II, who successfully graduated in July. Participated in a Facebook Live Event organized by the University of Oxford Sparks outreach team to promote our work in Costa Rica in the framework of the Biology Meet Subduction Project. The recording of the 1 hour long event has to date 8.5k visualizations. Participated in the Wikipedia Fellow program to increase contributions from academics. The interview I did last year with Carl Zimmer is now a podcast and can be listed here “Episode 7. Donato Giovannelli: Warm Ponds Or Hellish Vents–Where Did Life Begin?”. Did an interview in Spanish about subsurface life with RCN Radio Colombia.
Prizes and awards. The Frontiers in Earth Science Research Topic edited in 2015 is selected among the 10 finalist of the Frontiers Spotlight Award.
Other Activities. Started collaborating with the local winemaker firm Alberto Serenelli, learning winemaking. Collaborated in raising a seed round in equity for the Nano-Tech SpA company for which I am a co-founder and I served as member of the Board of Directors until December 2018. Kept working with selected startups within the project The Foundry. Worked at the Cypress Biotechnology startup to initiate research activities. Worked for a new no-profit initiative to be started in 2020.
Meetings, Conferences and Presentations. Invited keynote speaker at the StartUp Business plan competition CNA “Cambiamenti” award ceremony. Invited speaker at the Caveats event “What is life” in New York City, organized by New York Time Science Writer Carl Zimmer. Participated to weekly meeting at ELSI during the first four months of 2017 on different aspect of origins research. Attended the Goldschmidt 2017 conference in Paris and co-chaired Session 15b “Hydrothermal Biogeochemistry and Geobiology”. Invited speaker at the Deep Carbon Observatory International Science meeting in St. Andrews, UK. Invited speaker at the Microbiology 2017 meeting of the Italian Society of General Microbiology and Biotechnology in Palermo, Italy. Invited participant at the ICDP workshop to drill the Ivrea-Verbano Zone in Baveno, Italy (read the workshop report on Scientific Drilling). Panel member at the 43rd G7 summit, All4TheGreen round table on Entrepreneurship and Environmental Sustainability in Bologna, Italy. Invited participant at the CNR workshop on Polar Biology and Research, Venezia, Italy. Co-authored three posters at the Goldschmidt conference, 1 poster at the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life Meeting, 1 poster at the Southeastern Biogeochemical Society meeting, 1 presentation at the Annual Metagenomics and Metadesign of Subways and Urban Biomes (MetaSUB) Conference. Attended the AGU fall meeting in New Orleans and the DCO Biology Meets Subduction integration session. Contributed to 2 abstract to the XIIth SCAR Biology Symposium, Belgium. Invited talk at the Institute for Marine Science, National Research Council of Italy, Ancona. Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the 6th ELSI International Symposium (2018), Tokyo. Member of the International Scientific Committee of the next Extremophiles conference, Ischia (2018). Member of the Organizing Committee of the international workshop 4D Deep-time Data Driven Discovery, Washington DC (2018). Member of the Organizing Committee of the DCO international workshop Earth in Five Reactions, Washington DC (2018). Invited speaker at the next Gordon Research Conference in Marine Microbiology (2018).
Laboratory, Data Analysis and Field Work. Contributed in organizing and participated in a field sampling expedition to the Costa Rica arc volcanoes as part of the funded DCO project Biology Meets Subduction. Organized and led a sampling expedition to the Aeolian Islands shallow-vents. Participated in two distinct expeditions in Iceland, one to sample the alkaline shallow-water hydrothermal vents in the north fjords (ELSI), the other to sample the microbial communities of different icelanding hot springs (Oxford, University of Iceland). Conducted SEM analysis on Costa Rica hot spring samples in collaboration with Francesco Smedile. Extracted and sequenced the DNA from the Costa Rica project. Started enrichment of new isolates from Costa Rica hot springs. Collaborated with colleagues to complete a study on Azores shallow-water hydrothermal vents. Performed comparative genomic analyses on the evolution of metabolism and the role of adaptation vs innovation in colonizing new environments. Assisted in the data analysis of several ongoing project, both at Rutgers, CNR-ISMAR and ELSI. Assisted in the data analysis of new MinION sequencing data.
Research Grants and Proposals. Submitted 1 proposal to the Italian Ministry of Education “Montalcini grant” for the re-entry of Italian researchers working abroad (PI); 1 Japanese KAKHENI grants on the Tokyo Microbiome during the Olympics as part of the Meta-Sub consortia (Co-PI); contributed to 1 pre-proposal to the NASA Exobiology call to develop a genetic system in chemolithoautotrophic extremophiles (Collaborator); submitted 1 large community sequencing initiative to the Joint Genome Institute (Co-PI); submitted 1 proposal to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the development of integrated visualizing tool with the EarthByte consortia (awarded, Co-PI); submitted 1 proposal to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to fund the 4D workshop on big-data approaches to the study of the co-evolution of life and planet (awarded, science organizing committee member); submitted 1 pre-proposal to the John Templeton Foundation for the study of a shadow biosphere (collaborator).
Papers, Manuscripts and Technical Reports. Published a paper in Marine Environmental Research on the abundance of heavy metals in deep-sea hydrothermal vents tubeworms (co-authors). Published a paper in Frontiers in Marine Science on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the deep-sea (co-author). Published an Editorial to the DCO Research Topic in Frontiers in Earth Science (first and corresponding author). Contributed to a CNR technical report on the status of taxonomy work at the Italian national research lab (contributor). Published a paper in eLife on the evolution of carbon fixation in the Aquificae (first and co-corresponding author). Published a Nature Geoscience paper on the relationship between geologic preserved isotopic signatures and major microbial lineages evolution (co-author). Published a review on the geochemistry and microbiology of shallow-water hydrothermal vents in Elsevier module in Earth System and Environmental Science (co-author). Submitted a paper on the genome of Sulfurovum riftiae (first and corresponding author). Contributed to a paper on the philosophy and epistemology of the Origin of Life field (co-author). Wrote a paper on the metagenomic of Milos shallow-water hydrothermal vent biofilms (first author). Wrote a paper on the influence of glacier melt on the diversity of microbial assemblages in Antarctica (first author). Contributed to a paper on the mechanism of elemental sulfur reduction in T. ammonificans. Deposited a patent for the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in epoxy resins (co-inventor).
Editorial Roles and Servicing. Concluded the coordination the Frontiers in Research Topic featuring contribution from DCO Early Career Scientist, which collected 16 articles and 82 authors across the four different science communities of the Deep Carbon Observatory. Reviewed eight manuscript for international peer-reviewed journals and several proposal for Sloan and NASA. Participated in a grant review panel. Nominated review editor for Frontiers in Microbiology, section in extreme microbiology. Signed a publishing agreement with Springer Nature to co-edit a book expected in Spring 2019.
Teaching and Outreach. Member of the PhD committee of a PhD candidate at Rutgers University. Member of the master committee of a MSc student at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’. Wrote an invited contribution for the international Biochemistry Society Journal The Biochemist. See the award winning documentary on the “Biology Meets Subduction” expedition.
Prizes and awards. Awarded a Frontiers Community Support Fund Grant. The documentary from the Costa Rica “Biology meets subduction” expedition won the first prize at the Orbit Science Documentary context during the Goldschmidt conference in Paris. Awarded the Best Seminar of the Year Award from the Ancona Institute for Marine Science, CNR-ISMAR.
Other Activities. Obtained the Italian Ministry of Education and Research habilitation to serve as Associate Professor in Microbiology (ASN II Fascia). Contributed to the vision and strategy of Nano-Tech SpA as member of the Board of Directors. Founded the business accelerator The Foundry.
Meetings, Conferences and Presentations. Participated to weekly meeting at Columbia University and the Institute for Advanced Studies on the foundation of a new interdisciplinary Institute in Manhattan in the spring. Gave a guest seminar at Stony Brook University SoMAS. Held a public lecture in the “Family Science Talk” series at the Institute for Advanced Studies (here is the link to the youtube video). Attended the ELSI 4th Symposium in Tokyo and the first annual EON meeting. Participated to the DCO ExCom meeting in Washington DC in March 2016. Attended the Goldschmidt 2016 conference in Yokohama and presented a talk on the microbiology of shallow-water hydrothermal vents. Attended as instructor the Second DCO Summer School in Yellowstone and presented a talk on open source and open access. Attended the Italian Federation of Life Sciences conference in Rome. Attended the NanoInnovation 2016 European conference on nanotechnology in Rome and presented a talk on the static properties of nanotube reiforced thermosetting resins. Guest seminar at the University of Naples Federico II. Guest seminar at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Naples. Invited speaker at the YHouse Caffé series in Manhattan, NYC, USA. Served as member in the committee for the direction of research of the new no-profit research institute YHouse on the study of awareness. Presented two posters as co-author at the 2016 American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco.
Research Grants and Proposals. Submitted several research proposal for funding: 1 NSF pre-proposal on the evolution of pathogens (Co-PI); 1 NSF BIO-OCE on the study of the relationship between microbial biofilm and macrofauna larvae at deep-sea vents (Co-PI); 1 pre-proposal (PI) to the Alfred P. Sloan foundation for a DCO Field Focus Site Initiative; transformed in 1 full proposal to the Alfred P. Sloan foundation under the DCO umbrella for a multidisciplinary study of carbon cycling in a subduction zone (Co-PI); 1 pre-proposal to the NASA Earth Observatory call (Co-PI); 1 large community sequencing initiative to the Joint Genome Institute (Co-PI); 1 small sequencing proposal to the Joint Genome Institute (Co-PI); 1 DCO Census of Deep Life proposal (Co-PI); 1 proposal to the Italian Antarctic Program for the study of climate induced change in the benthic microbial community in proximity of a melting glacier in the Ross Bay (PI); 1 proposal to the Italian Ministry of Education PRIN call to study the community at shallow-water hydrothermal vents in Panarea (Project Collaborator); 1 ELSI Origin Network Seed Grant proposal for the study of metabolic evolution and adaptation in Epsilonproteobacteria (PI); 2 different Japanese KAKHENI grants on different aspect of the reconstruction of the ancestral metabolism and reconstruction of the metabolic network in Aquificae (Co-PI); 1 Japanese KAKHENI grants on the Tokyo Urban Microbiome during the Olympics as part of the Meta-Sub consortia (Co-PI); drafted 3 different short grant ideas with colleagues of ELSI (Co-PI).
Papers, Manuscripts and Technical Reports. Submitted the description of a new species for publication to the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, Sulfurovum riftiae (first author) and the description of its genome was submitted for publication and it is currently under review (first author). Published a paper in Frontiers in Microbiology on the microbiology of shallow-water Adriatic pockmarks (first and co-corresponding author). Published a review paper on the co-evolution of geosphere and biosphere in Annual Review of Microbiology (co-author). Published a paper on the genome of Sedimenticola selenatireducens (co-author). Submitted a paper on the abundance of heavy metals in deep-sea hydrothermal vents tubeworms (co-author). Submitted a paper on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the deep-sea (co-author). Published a meeting report on the DCO Early Career Scientist workshop in EOS (first author). Published an invited contribution in the Institute for Advanced Studies Institute Letter. Wrote and submitted a review on shallow-water hydrothermal vents in collaboration with Roy Price (co-author). Wrote and submitted a paper on the relationship between geologic preserved isotopic signatures and major microbial lineages evolution (co-author).
Editorial Roles and Servicing. Continued organizing the Second DCO Summer School 2016 held in Yellowstone National Park. Continued coordinating the Frontiers in Research Topic featuring contribution from DCO Early Career Scientist. The Research Topic is cross listed by 4 different Frontiers Journals. Reviewed seven manuscripts for international peer-reviewed journals and several proposal for Sloan, NSF and NASA. Participated in a grant review panel.
Teaching and Outreach. Taught a master level class in Marine Microbial Diversity at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’.
Laboratory, Data Analysis and Field Work. Conducted SEM analysis on elemental sulfur particles pre and post microbial growth of T. ammonificans and on the white mats of the shallow-water hydrothermal vents of Milos Islands. Completed the analysis of the Milos metagenome and dataset and wrote the paper. Collaborated with Lucia Bongiorni to complete data analysis on viral production in the tissue and mucus of hermatypic corals. Continued coordinating the compilation of data from the collective sampling carried out during the DCOECS15 workshop. Carried out phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial DNA-directed RNA-polymerase for the analysis of promiscuity and permissivity of extant polymerase on RNA isoforms in collaboration with Chris Butch. Coordinated and collaborated to the analysis of the transcriptome and proteome of T. ammonificans with Benjamin Jelen. Contributed to the analysis of several prokaryotic genomes, and metagenomes. Supervised the study of the possible induction of a thermophilic prophage. Contributed to the planning of the field campaign in Costa Rica (2017) as part of the funded Sloan project “Biology meets subduction“.
Other Activities. Moved to Tokyo to start the ELSI Origins Network Fellowship during the spring. Continued visiting weekly the PIDS program at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton during the first 4 months of 2016 and re-appointed visiting scholar at the Institute for 2017. Appointed visiting professor at the University of Naples Federico II. Applied to the national calls for a full-time permanent researcher position at the Italian National Research Council of Italy and the Zoological Station “Anthon Dorn” of Naples. Contributed to found and structure the YHouse Research Institute for the study of awareness.