This ISAGS will instruct participants on the study of fouling communities using a method that has been conceived and successfully applied for over 25 years in the United States by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC, USA). Experts of different taxonomic groups will provide lectures and laboratory activities to instruct participants on the identification of the most common fouling species of port habitats, with a focus on cryptogenic and alien invertebrate species. Attendees will be able to have their hands in the water during a field trip in the Gulf of La Spezia (Ligurian Sea) to collect samples that will be subsequently analysed in the lab.
Furthermore, this ISAGS participants will jointly design an experimental study to be applied by each participant in their own country after the school. The aim of the experiment is to carry out a large scale assessment of the bioinvasions in Europe/Mediterranean Sea. The experiment will be selected with the class, considering the feasibility and capability of each participant to perform it, but it is foreseen to be easy and noncost prohibitive. The material that will be proposed to be used are simple bricks, PVC panels and ropes (see an example of the experimental unit promoted by the SERC in the side figure). The PVC panels will be provided to each participant during the school.
Each participant will i) gain new competences in species identification and manipulative experiments; ii) be involved in a collaborative work with the aim to collect data “at home” after the school; iii) share the data collected for the elaboration of a collaborative scientific publication.

This ISAGS is organised by The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UNIPV (https://terraeambiente.dip.unipv.it/en), and by the Marine Invasions Lab at SERC (https://serc.si.edu/labs/marine-invasions-research), with lecturers from both institutions as well
as from the Marine Research Institute of the University of Cadiz (INMAR-UCA, Spain; https://inmar.uca.es/).

Who can attend: This school is designed for PhD students, post-doc fellows or researchers with a marine taxonomic background and involved in marine bioinvasion studies.

Where: The ISAGS will be organised by the University of Pavia, one of the oldest Universities in Italy (over 600
years old). In particular, the ISAGS will be held in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, in the beautiful building of the Botanical Garden, located in the historic mediaeval centre of the town.
You can reach Pavia by train from Milan (info and tickets available on www.trenitalia.com or www.trenord.it).

Deadlines:
-Submission of the application: November 6, 2023
-Admission communication to participants to the ISAGS: November 10, 2023
-Confirmation from the participants to accept the enrolment to the school: November 17, 2023

Application: The registration form is available at the link: https://forms.gle/AWX16SyYXYo5nHH48
Applications without CV and a motivation letter will not be considered eligible.
Reference person: Jasmine Ferrario (UNIPV) – jasmine.ferrario@unipv.it