Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
(Mar 2008)
Personal Data
Simone Libralato
Date of birth: July 28, 1973
Born in: Italy;
Citizenship: Italian;
Resident in: Trieste (Italy)
Not Married; 13 children;
Italian (mother-tongue);
English (writing: good; reading: good; speaking: good);
Spanish (writing: poor; reading: fair; speaking: fair);
Portuguese (writing: poor; reading: fair; speaking: slight).
Interests
Travelling, traditional culture, hiking, biking, juggling, diving, gardening
Research Interests
Integration of trophic web models with biogeochemical models for end-to-end description of marine
ecosystems; describe growth of fish and shellfish in relation with environmental forcing by using field
experiments and mathematical bioenergetic models; statistical analysis of time series of biological and catch
data; study the effects of climatic changes and fishing impacts on coastal ecosystems; application of the
ecosystem approach by using food web modelling especially for evidencing effects of fishing on ecosystems;
ecotoxicological modelling of persistent organic pollutants; identifying the role of species in food webs;
Education
09/2001-12/2004
PhD thesis on “Marine ecosystem functioning analysed by means of indicators and
models”, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia,
Italy (Supervisor: Dr. Fabio Pranovi).
09/1992 – 07/1998
“Laurea cum laude” (MSc) in Environmental Sciences on 15 July 1998, Università
Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Italy with thesis entitled “Identification of a mathematical
model of the growth of seabream (Sparus aurata) and its application to aquaculture”
(trad. from original title: “Identificazione di un modello di accrescimento per l’orata
(Sparus aurata) e sue applicazioni in acquacultura”), Supervisor: Prof. Roberto
Pastres.
09/1988 – 07/1992
Technical high School “A. Martini”, Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy.
Special courses and summer schools
 03-07 July 2006, “Virtual Ecology Workbench Workshop 2006”, organized by John Woods and Silvana
Vallerga, Alpicella, Varazze, Italy.
 18-28 June 2006, “Towards ecosystem oceanography: Identification and modelling of controls in marine
ecosystems”, a EUR-OCEANS summer school, co-organised by SLIP/Fishnet, endorsed and sponsored
by GLOBEC and the Nordic Marine Academy (NMA), Dragerup Field Station, Denmark.
 Sept-Dec 2003, “Quantitative Fish Stock Assessment I & II” held by Carl Walters, modules FISH 504 and
505 of the Graduate Program of the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
Canada.
 18-20 Feb 2003, “Elements of Non-linear Dynamic: Stability, Bifurcations and Chaos”, directed by Prof.
Carlo Piccardi, organised by Italian Society for Chaos and Complexity, Milan, Italy.
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Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
 13-18 Nov 2002, “Ecology and Management of terrestrial marine interface environments”, 6th course of
the International School of Marine Biology directed by Marco Arculeo e Antonio Mazzola, held at Ettore
Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy.
 8-11 Apr 2002, “Programming in Visual Basic” held by Steven Martell, special training course at
Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
 03-28 Mar 2002, “Advanced EcoPath with EcoSim” held by D. Pauly and V. Christensen, and
“Economics of Fisheries Restoration and Management” held by R. Sumaila, modules of the course FISH
501: Issues in Fisheries Research, organized by T. Pitcher within the Graduate Program of the Fisheries
Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
 1-10 Aug 2001, “PhD course in Multi-Species Fisheries Models”, held by H. Gislason, V. Christensen, J.
Collie and M. Vinther, arranged by University of Copenhagen and the Danish Institute for Fisheries
Research, held at the North Sea Center, Hirtshals, Denmark.
 4-9 Sept 2000, “New methods for forecasting, neural networks, genetic algorithms, dynamic and adaptive
models”, Summer School organised by the Italian Society of Statistics and Dept. of Statistics of the
Università Ca’ Foscari, San Servolo, Venice.
 7 Feb-9 Mar 2000, “Meteorology and theory of tidal movements”, technical-professional training course
organized by Ufficio Idrografico e Mareografico (Hydro graphic and Sea Level Office), Venice.
Abroad experiences
Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada, 12 Sept 2003 – 02 Feb 2004, research
collaboration with Prof. D. Pauly and Prof. V. Christensen, for developing an original index of species’
role estimated by using mass-balance models.
Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada, 03 Mar 2002 – 30 June 2002, visiting PhD
student for developing and analysing mass-balance models of the North Adriatic Sea and Venice Lagoon
ecosystems.
Mikkeli Polytechnic, Mikkeli, Finland, 23 May - 6 June 1997, Pan European Joint Project organized under
the framework of the NEPTUNE Association (Network for Environmental Projects in Technology,
UNited in Europe), funded by the NEPTUNE Association and by the European Community, on ecotourism and sustainable tourism.
Professional Employment
Research experiences
 from Feb 2008, research position at Dept. Oceanography, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di
Geofisica Sperimentale – OGS, Trieste, Italy
 Feb 2005-Jan 2008, post-doc position on “Analysis of marine ecosystems” at Dept. Oceanography,
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale – OGS, Trieste, Italy
(Scientific Advisor: Dr. Cosimo Solidoro).
 Dec 2003-Dec 2004, collaborator within the research project “Studies at different spatial-temporal
scales of the changes on marine benthic communities induced by Rapido trawl fishing” - PR 116,
ICRAM (Central Italian Institute for Researches and Technologies Applied to the Sea),
Chioggia, Italy (Scientific Advisor: Dr. Otello Giovanardi).
 Nov 2000-Nov 2003, Research Fellow (5/2000), “Fellowship for holder of MSc in Environmental
Sciences or Biology with experience on the impacts of trawl fisheries on benthic communities”,
ICRAM, Chioggia, Italy (Scientific Advisor: Dr. Otello Giovanardi).
 29 Aug – 30 Nov 2000, Special research on the “Analysis of distribution and abundance of Tapes
philippinarum, stock evaluation in the Venice Lagoon”, commissioned by ICRAM, Chioggia,
Italy (Scientific Advisor: Dr. Otello Giovanardi).
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Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
 02 Jun - 28 Aug 2000, Contract within the Project PR 117, “Preliminary application of the ECOPATH
model to the North Adriatic Sea, referred in particularly to the Rapido trawl fishery”, ICRAM,
Chioggia, Italy (Scientific Advisor: Dr. Otello Giovanardi).
Awards received
Certificate of recognition for best poster at the International Symposium on Quantitative Ecosystem
Indicators for Fisheries Management, Paris, France, 31 March – 3 April, 2004.
Lodovico Caldesi Valeri Prize for best thesis on Environmental Sciences (MSc), Università Ca’ Foscari,
Venezia, 25th July 2000.
Current research activity
Development and analysis of ecosystem (Ecopath with Ecosim) models for areas of the Adriatic and
Mediterranean Sea; integration of trophic web models with biogeochemical models for end-to-end
description of marine ecosystems (Project SESAME); describe growth of fish and shellfish in relation with
environmental forcing by using field experiments and mathematical bioenergetic models (Interreg Project:
EcoMADR); statistical analysis of time series of biological and catch data in the Adriatic Sea (Interreg
Project: EcoMADR); study the effects of climatic changes on coastal ecosystems and plankton communities
(Project: CLIMA); prepare and contribute to project proposals; prepare and contribute to scientific papers;
disseminate achievements by participating to conferences and workshops; supervise young fellow.
Collaborations
ISMAR-CNR, Ancona, Italy: Integration of food web models with biogeochemical models (with: Dr. Enrico
Arneri; Dr. Alberto Santojanni).
Institut de Ciencies de Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain : Integration of food web models with biogeochemical
models (With: Dr. Isabel Palomera e Marta Coll); theoretical analysis for evaluating the fisheries’ impact on
marine ecosystems (With: Dr. Sergi Tutela, Dr. Isabel Palomera e Marta Coll).
Fisheries Centre, UBC, Vancouver, Canada: Integration of food web models with biogeochemical models
(with: Prof. Villy Christensen); Identification of species’ role in food web models (with: Prof. Daniel Pauly,
Prof. Villy Christensen).
ICRAM-Central Italian Institute for Researches and Technologies Applied to the Sea, Chioggia, Italy:
Reconstruction of marine animal populations in Mediterranean from historical data and fisheries statistics
(Dr. Otello Giovanardi; Dr. Saša Raicevich).
University of Haifa, Israel: Reconstruction of marine animal populations in Mediterranean from historical
data and fisheries statistics (With. Prof. Ruthy Gertwagen).
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Venice: Theoretical analysis for evaluating the
fisheries’ impact on marine ecosystems (Dr. Fabio Pranovi)
Collegium Budapest, Institute for Advanced Study: Identification of species’ role in food web models (With:
Dr. Ferenc Jordán).
INCA (Consortium of Universities of Environmental Chemistry), Venezia, Italy : Statistical analyses of data
of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and modelling their bioaccumulation processes in marine organisms
(with: Dr. Stefano Raccanelli).
Additional information
Member of organizing committee of Conferences and Workshops
6th European Conference on Ecological Modelling, ECEM07 , November 27-30, 2007, Trieste, Italy.
Conference organized by OGS and hosted at ICTP.
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Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
Workshop on "Biogeochemical processes and fish dynamics in food web models for end-to-end
conceptualization of marine ecosystems. Theory and use of Ecopath with Ecosim", November 26-27,
2007, Trieste, Italy. Workshop organized by OGS in collaboration with Fisheries Centre, and hosted at
ICTP.
Workshop on Data Assimilation and Recursive Estimation - DARE2004, September 20-21, 2004, Venice,
Italy. Congress organized by the Dept. of Statistics and Dept. Physical Chemistry of the Università Ca’
Foscari di Venezia.
VII National Congress of Environmental Chemistry – from local to global: towards sustainability (trad.
from: Congresso Nazionale di Chimica Ambientale – Dal locale al globale: percorsi di sostenibilità).
11-14 June 2002, Venezia, Italy. Congress organized by the Italian Chemistry Society in collaboration
with the University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari.
Member of Societies
The American Fishery Society (AFS), since 2004.
The International Society of Ecological Modelling (ISEM), since 2007.
Scientific Editorial Activities
Reviewing activity for: Ecological Modelling, Journal of Marine Systems, ICES Journal of Marine Sciences,
Chemosphere, PAN-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences.
Member of the Advisory Board of the Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences.
Invited Presentations, Lectures and Seminars
INCA, Auditorium Santa Margherita, Venezia, 27 Marzo 2008, Risultati del 7° CIND – Circuito
Interlaboratorio Diossine, Invited semiar at the Congress DIOSSINA E POP’S CONOSCERLI PER
COMBATTERLI.
Università degli Studi di Padova, Biologia Marina, Palazzo Grassi – Chioggia (Venice), 06 March 2008,
Modelli matematici per lo studio della pesca (trad. Mathematical models for studying fisheries). Invited
seminar.
Institut de Ciencies de Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain, 18 April 2007, Modelling marine food webs for an
ecosystem approach of marine resources in the Mediterranean Sea. (M. Coll & S. Libralato). Invited
Seminar.
Collegium Budapest, Institute for Advanced Study, Budapest, Hungary, 26 May, 2006. Species roles
and positions in food webs. Invited contribution to the mini-workshop organized by Ferenc Jordán.
United World College of the Adriatic, Duino, Italy, 4 April 2006, Ecology and Computational
Hydrodynamics in Oceanography. Invited presentation.
OGS – Osservatorio Geofisico Sperimentale, Trieste, Italy, 8 October 2004, Assessing fisheries’ impact
on marine ecosystems from models and landings data. Invited seminar at the Department of
Oceanography.
FAO, Roma, Italy, 28th July 2004. Ecosystem-based approaches for the analysis of the effects of fishing:
modelling and indicators. Invited seminar at Fisheries Department.
Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Italy, 24 March 2004. Modelli delle reti trofiche di ecosistemi marini
(trad: Trophic web models of marine ecosystems). Seminar series on Physic Chemistry and Ecological
Modelling, Dept. of Physic Chemistry.
Fisheries Centre, UBC, Vancouver, Canada, 26 April 2002. The effects of fishing activity on ecosystem
structure and function in the Northern Adriatic Sea: an experimental and modelling approach. Fish 500
Seminar Series.
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Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
Pack Forest Conference Center (Seattle), Washington State, USA, 13 April 2002. The study of the
mechanical clam harvesting in the Venice lagoon: effects on the ecosystem evaluated by using trophic
mass-balance model. Presentation at the “MISS PACMAN-Maritime International Student Symposium
on Pacific Management”.
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Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
List of publications
Articles in Peer-reviewed Journals
Solidoro C., Cossarini G., Libralato S., Salon S., 2008. Remarks on the redefinition of system boundaries
and model parameterization for downscaling experiments. Progress in Oceanography, accepted.
Jordán F., Okey T.A., Bauer B., Libralato S., 2008. Identifying important species: linking structure and
function in ecological networks. Ecological Modelling, accepted.
Libralato S., Solidoro C., 2008. A bioenergetic growth model for comparing Sparus aurata’s feeding
experiments. Ecological Modelling, accepted.
Raccanelli S., Libralato S., Favotto M., 2008. On the detoxification of benthic bivalve contaminated by
POPs: Insights from experimental and modelling approaches. Environmental Chemistry Letters, accepted.
Libralato S., Coll M., Tudela S., Palomera I. and Pranovi F., 2008. Novel index for quantification of
ecosystem effects of fishing as removal of secondary production. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 355: 107129. doi: 10.3354/meps07224
Libralato S., Tempesta M., Solidoro C., Spoto M., 2006. An ecosystem model applied to Miramare natural
Marine Reserve: limits, advantages and perspectives. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, 13 (1): 386-395.
Granzotto A., Libralato S., Raicevich S., Giovanardi O., Pranovi F., 2006. Analisi dello stato delle risorse
alieutiche dell'alto Adriatico mediante le serie storiche di sbarcato. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, 13 (1):
78-86.
Libralato S., Christensen V., Pauly D., 2006. A method for identifying keystone species in food web models.
Ecological Modelling, 195/3-4: 153-171.
Libralato S., Torricelli P., Pranovi F., 2006. Exergy as ecosystem indicator: an application to the recovery
process of marine benthic communities. Ecological Modelling, 192/3-4: 571-585.
Libralato S., Pranovi F., Raicevich S., Giovanardi O., 2004. Mixed Trophic Impact and Transfer Efficiency
as ecosystem indicators of species’ role and ecosystem state. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, 11(2): 255-264.
Pranovi F., Raicevich S., Libralato S., Giovanardi O., Torricelli P., 2004. Are Exergy and total Production
useful indicators to assess fishing disturbance induced on benthic communities? Biologia Marina
Mediterranea, 11(2): 287-295.
Raicevich S., Pranovi F., Libralato S., Botter L., Giovanardi O., 2004. Applicazione preliminare di indagini
morfologiche per la messa a punto di indicatori per la valutazione degli effetti della pesca su Crostacei
Brachiuri. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, 11(2): 296-303.
Libralato S., Pranovi F., Raicevich S., Da Ponte F., Giovanardi O., Pastres R., Torricelli P., Mainardi D.,
2004. Ecological stages of the Venice Lagoon analysed using landing time series data. Journal of Marine
Systems, 51:331-344.
Granzotto A., Libralato S., Pranovi F., Raicevich S., Giovanardi O., 2004. Comparison between artisanal
and industrial fisheries using ecosystem indicators. Chemistry and Ecology, 20 (supplement 1): S435-S449.
BrandoV.E., Ceccarelli R., Libralato S. and Ravagnan G., 2004. Assessment of environmental management
effects in a shallow water basin using mass balance models. Ecological Modelling, 172: 213-232.
Pranovi F., Libralato S., Raicevich S., Granzotto A., Pastres R., Giovanardi O., 2003. Mechanical clam
dredging in Venice Lagoon: ecosystem effects evaluated with a trophic mass-balance model. Marine
Biology, 143: 393-403.
Libralato S., R. Pastres, F. Pranovi, S. Raicevich, A. Granzotto, O. Giovanardi and P. Torricelli, 2002.
Comparison between the energy flow networks of two habitats in the Venice Lagoon. Marine Ecology PSZN,
23: 228-236.
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Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum – Simone Libralato
R. Pastres, F. Pranovi, S. Libralato, S. Malavasi and P. Torricelli, 2002. ‘Birthday effect’ on the adoption of
alternative mating tactics in Zosterisessor ophiocephalus: evidence from a growth model. Journal of the
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 82: 333-337.
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