Zaposleni CV (EN)

Ana Fortič

• Boris Petelin

SHORT CV

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), 6 March 2023, University of Ljubljana. Biosciences, field: Biology. Dissertation title: Structure and succession of the marine sessile invertebrate fouling communities and its filtration efficiency. Supervisor: Prof. Lovrenc Lipej, PhD; Co-supervisor: Assist. Prof. Borut Mavrič, PhD.

MSc in Structural and Functional Biology, 16 May 2016, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty. Thesis title: Trophic ecology of the moon jelly (Aurelia aurita s.l.) and its influence on the microbial loop. Supervisor: Prof. Jasna Štrus, PhD; Co-supervisor: Prof. Valentina Turk, PhD.

BSc in Biology (UN), 28 August 2012, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty.

COLLABORATIONS

Seznam novejših projektov, v katerih sem sodelovala:

1. Non-indigenous bryozoans in the Mediterranean Sea: a threat to ecosystems or only a nuisance? Z1-60165 (ARIS; dr. Ana Fortič, 2025-2026)
2. TRECap Trezze, tegnue and the marine environments of the northern Adriatic: capitalization (Interreg Italia-Slovenija; OGS, 2023-2025)
3. Life Pinna: Conservation and re-stocking of the Pinna nobilis in the western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea (LIFE20 NAT/IT/001122 PINNA; ARPAL, 2021-2025)
4. Solutions for the restoration of brown algal forests BI-HR/23-24-021 (ARIS, dr. Martina Orlando Bonaca, 2023-2025)
5. Research program Coastal marine research P1-0237 (ARIS; dr. Patricija Mozetič, 2015-2027)
6. fDNAaqua – Environmental DNA trapped by filter feeders (fDNA): Tool for monitoring of aquatic biodiversity J1-3015 (ARIS; dr. David Stanković, 2021-2025)
7. Monitoring biodiversity and abundance of alien species in the Slovenian coastal sea 2021–2023 (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food; dr. Borut Mavrič, 2021-2023)

FIELD OF RESEARCH

During my PhD, I studied the processes shaping the structure and succession of marine fouling communities in the northern Adriatic Sea, with a particular focus on bryozoans and non-indigenous species. I also conducted manipulative laboratory experiments to investigate filtration activity and clearance rates of fouling bryozoans and ascidians. These research components were later integrated through the estimation of clearance rates on small artificial structures with different properties and in different environmental settings.

I am currently a member of the Biodiversity research group, led by Associate Professor Martina Orlando Bonaca, PhD, where I continue to investigate fouling communities and other topics in marine ecology. I am the principal investigator of my ARIS postdoctoral project “Non-indigenous bryozoans in the Mediterranean Sea: a threat to ecosystems or only a nuisance?”«. In addition, I am involved in the ARIS research program P1-0237 (Coastal Marine Research) and several other research projects focusing on topics ranging from marine biodiversity monitoring to the restoration of the bivalve Pinna nobilis and brown algal forests, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and processes of bioinvasion. I am also the responsible person for NIB in the Interreg project TRECap, where, together with Italian partners, we study valuable marine habitats of the northern Adriatic Sea and the fan mussel (Pinna nobilis).

I am a certified diver (SSI Master Diver) with experience in scientific diving and underwater documentation techniques.

SELECTED (NEWER) PUBLICATIONS

Pitacco, Valentina, Trkov, Domen, Caracciolo, Daniela, Ciriaco, Saul, Segarich, Marco, Batistini, Edoardo, Orlando-Bonaca, Martina, Lipej, Lovrenc, Mavrič, Borut, Rogelja, Manja, Azzena, Ilenia, Locci, Chiara, Scarpa, Fabio, Sanna, Daria, Casu, Marco, Manfrin, Chiara, Pallavicini, Alberto, Fortič, Ana. Recruitment and controlled growth of juveniles of the critically endangered fan mussel Pinna nobilis in the Northern Adriatic. Diversity. Oct. 2025, vol. 17, iss. 10, [article no.] 666, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/d17100666. 

Pitacco, Valentina, Fortič, Ana, Trkov, Domen, Mavrič, Borut, Mlinar, Ciril, Lipej, Lovrenc. Growth rates of the critically endangered fan mussel Pinna nobilis in the Slovenian sea (northern Adriatic). Endangered species research. 2025, vol. 58, 381-39. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01455. 

Fortič, Ana, Mavrič, Borut, Slavinec, Petra, Lipej, Lovrenc. The Overlooked suspension feeders: the filtering activity of the Bryozoans Schizoporella errata and Bugula neritina in the Northern Adriatic. Journal of marine science and engineering. 2025, vol. 13, no. 6, [article no.] 1052, 1-17. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/6/1052. 

Glamuzina, Branko, Vilizzi, Lorenzo, Piria, Marina, Žuljević, Ante, Lipej, Lovrenc, Fortič, Ana, Mavrič, Borut, Trkov, Domen, et al. Global Warming Scenarios for the Eastern Adriatic Sea indicate a higher risk of invasiveness of non-native marine organisms relative to current climate conditions. Marine life science & technology. 2024, vol. 6,143-154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42995-023-00196-9. 

Wolf, Marion Adelheid, Sciuto, Katia, Buosi, Alessandro, Orlando-Bonaca, Martina, Fortič, Ana, Sfriso, Adriano. Dasysiphonia adriatica sp. nov. (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta), a new red algal species from the North Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea). Mediterranean Marine Science. 2024, vol. 25, no. 3, 570-577. https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.38141. 

 Link to COBISS, a Slovenian database containing all my publications

Slavica Nastić

• Boris Petelin

SHORT CV

Education:

2007 – 2008: Faculty of Sciences – University of Novi Sad, Serbia, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection; MSc in Chemistry, dissertation thesis: Risk assessment of sediments of the Grand Backa Canal based on their metals content.

2003 – 2007: Faculty of Sciences – University of Novi Sad, Serbia, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection; BSc in Chemistry - Engineer for Quality Control and Environmental Management, graduation thesis: Characterization of soil polluted by oil during the process of ex-situ bioremediation.

1999 – 2003: High School of Economics Sombor, Serbia; Economic technician.

Working experience:

After several years of work experience in various positions in laboratories and industries in Serbia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, she is finally returning to a job related to the environment.

At the Marine Biological Station, she performs the following chemical analyses of seawater samples:

- TOC and TN analysis using TOC-L Shimadzu

- Inorganic nutrient analysis using SEAL QuAAtro39 – SFA Analyzer

Neža Orel

• Boris Petelin

SHORT CV

2011-2014: Bachelor's study of Environmental Sciences (1st level)., School of Environmental Sciences, University of Nova Gorica. Bachelor thesis "Impact of pollutant mixture on microbial community in seawater from Gulf of Trieste", mentor prof. dr. Valentina Turk, co-mentor: dr. Tinkara Tinta.

2014-2017: Master's study of Environmental Sciences (2nd level)., School of Environmental Sciences, University of Nova Gorica.. Master thesis "Response of the microbial community to a mixture of hazardous compounds, mentor prof. dr. Valentina Turk.

2018-2019: Professional Associate at Marine biology station Piran.

October 2019: I am in the PhD program at School of Environmental Sciences (University of Nova Gorica). I work as young researcher at the Marine biology station Piran under supervision of prof. dr. Valentina Turk, where I study potential pathogenic microorganisms in marine environment.

DRUGE AKTIVNOSTI

IZBRANE (NOVEJŠE) OBJAVE

Celotni seznam moje literature iz zbirke Cobiss

Timotej Turk Dermastia

• Boris Petelin

SHORT CV

I began my research career at the Marine Biology Station Piran (NIB) during my PhD, focusing on harmful algal blooms, phytoplankton diversity in the Slovenian Sea, molecular detection methods, and advanced bioinformatics. I earned my PhD in Ecotechnology from the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School in October 2021, with the dissertation Diversity, ecology and sensing of the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia in the Gulf of Trieste.

During my PhD, I expanded my research to diatom viruses, leading to my postdoctoral project Diatom Viruses and Their Role in Organic Matter Cycling in Coastal Seas (funded in October 2022). Through this project, we successfully isolated and characterized the first known viruses infecting Pseudo-nitzschia (project details).

In 2024, I was awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholar grant to join the Kay Bidle and Kim Thamatrakoln Lab at Rutgers University, where I investigated how viral infections affect diatom aggregation. This research included participation in a two-week oceanographic expedition in the California Current Ecosystem, studying the interplay of viral infection, turbulence, sinking, and aggregation.

My current research explores how viral infections shape biogeochemical cycles and microbial communities, while I continue to develop molecular tools for phytoplankton monitoring.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

I frequently write for popular science magazines and websites, where I try to bring my scientific interest to the general public and even children. For my science communication excellence I received the Prometheus of Science award in 2018 and along with other members of the In the Swirl of Change Symposium organizing committee also in 2021.  I was the winner of the 2019 ScienceSlam contest (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2415422218692959). I am a member of the executive board of the Slovenian Natural History Society and a member of the Council for Antarctic and Arctic Research of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (https://www.sazu.si/svet-za-raziskave-antarktike-in-arktike). I was also a co-chair and founding member of the young scientist leg of the Euromarine network (OYSTER https://euromarinenetwork.eu/oyster/).

SELECTED (NEWER) PUBLICATIONS

1. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, FRANCÉ, Janja, ARAPOV, Jasna,, NERI, Francesca, ACCORONI, Stefano, TOTTI, Cecilia, CERINO, Federica, FERRANTE, Mariella Immacolata., BERNARDI AUBRY, Fabrizio, FINOTTO, Stefania, GODRIJAN, Jelena, DRAKULOVIĆ, Dragana, MOZETIČ, Patricija, 2025. Comprehensive Insights into Pseudo-nitzschia Research in the Adriatic Sea: Diverse Perspectives and Emerging Discoveries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Jul. 2025, vol. 319, [art. No.] 109283.

2. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, KUTNJAK, Denis, GUTIÉRREZ-AGUIRRE, Ion, BRUSSAARD, Corina P. D., BAČNIK, Katarina. Discovery of novel and known viruses associated with toxigenic and non-toxigenic bloom forming diatoms from the Northern Adriatic Sea. Harmful algae. Nov. 2024, vol. 139, [art. no.] 102737, str. 1-13, ilustr. ISSN 1568-9883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2024.102737

3. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, VASCOTTO, Ivano, FRANCÉ, Janja, STANKOVIĆ, David, MOZETIČ, Patricija. Evaluation of the rbcL marker for metabarcoding of marine diatoms and inference of population structure of selected genera. Frontiers in microbiology. Mar. 2023, vol. 14, str. 1-21, ilustr. ISSN 1664-302X. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1071379, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1071379. [COBISS.SI-ID 143697411]

4. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, DALL’ARA, Sonia, DOLENC, Jožica, MOZETIČ, Patricija. Toxicity of the Diatom Genus Pseudo-nitzschia (Bacillariophyceae) : insights from toxicity tests and genetic screening in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Toxins : Elektronski vir. 2022, vol. 14, iss. 1, str. 1-17, ilustr. ISSN 2072-6651. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/14/1/60/htm, https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=137126, DOI: 10.3390/toxins14010060. [COBISS.SI-ID 94153219]

5. TURK DERMASTIA, Timotej, CERINO, Federica, STANKOVIĆ, David, FRANCÉ, Janja, RAMŠAK, Andreja, TUŠEK-ŽNIDARIČ, Magda, BERAN, Alfred, NATALI, Vanessa, CABRINI, Marina, MOZETIČ, Patricija. Ecological time series and integrative taxonomy unveil seasonality and diversity of the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia H. Peragallo in the northern Adriatic Sea. Harmful algae. Mar. 2020, vol. 93, 101773, str. 1-20, ilustr. ISSN 1568-9883. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568988320300536?via%3Dihub, https://dirros.openscience.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=11205, DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2020.101773. [COBISS.SI-ID 40469253]

 Link to COBISS, a Slovenian database containing all my publications