2024 — ONGOING
A tale of an endangered marine plant that thrives where shallow water meets the sun, interwoven WITH stories of women that bloom in gender-biased soil, CASTING light on neglected aspects of biodiversity loss.
According to the European Commission, an estimated 7% of the underwater meadows of vital seagrass species Posidonia oceanica disappears each year (source), an alarming decline rate stemming from the merging pressures of climate change and human activity in coastal areas. This plant unique to the Mediterranean Sea provides a habitat for over 300 marine species risking to vanish alongside it.
A team of young female scientists from the bioscience research center BsRC studied the ecosystem off the coast of Talamone, Italy, to investigate how the combination of climate change induced stressors and emerging chemical pollutants contained in healthcare products may affect territory competition between Posidonia oceanica and algae.
Exploring an overlooked aspect of biodiversity loss, their work also challenges persistent gender gaps in the Italian scientific community, where fewer than 30% of women hold prominent roles or get properly credited in publications.
project supported by the Leica Camera USA x Women Photograph 2024 grant
Marine biologist Irene Biagiotti collects samples of invasive algae Caulerpa prolifera for the study.
Marine biologist Irene Biagiotti studies the bottom of a coastal area off Talamone, Tuscany, Italy, where ivasive algal species Caulerpa prolifera has taken over Posidonia Oceanica meadows.
Marine biologists Irene Biagiotti and Eleonora Grazioli performing tests on samples of Caulerpa prolifera in the BsRC lab.