NIB - MORSKA BIOLOŠKA POSTAJA PIRAN
Maja Starovič
MAJA STAROVIČ
young researcher
Telephone:
+386 (0)5 9232 930
E-mail address:
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Areas of interest:
Gelatinous zooplankton
Marine microbial ecology
SHORT CV
2013-2018:
Bachelor's degree in Food Science and Nutrition at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana.
Bachelor's thesis: "Traditionally used medicinal and edible wild plants in the Alps and Karst as protection against intestinal diseases".
Advisor: Prof. dr. Sonja Smole Možina.
2016-2017:
Erasmus+ exchange in Food Technology at Instituto Politécnico de Beja, Portugal.
2018-2020:
Master's degree in Food Biotechnology and Biorefining at Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands.
Master's thesis: "Metabolic interactions between Rhizopus oryzae, Rhizopus oligosporus and Propionibacterium freudenreichii in vitamin B12 enriched lupine tempeh".
Advisor: Prof. dr. Eddy J. Smid.
2021–2022:
Research Assistant at the Plant Protection Department, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, working in nematology, bacteriology and plant protection.
2022-2024:
Research Assistant at the Microbiology Department, Acies Bio, Ljubljana. Research focused on industrial biotechnology, microbial ecology, nitrogen fixation and the development of microbial biopesticides and biostimulants.
2024-:
PhD student in Environmental Sciences at the University of Nova Gorica and young researcher at the Marine Biology Station, National Institute of Biology, Piran.
Advisor: dr. Tinkara Tinta.
Research focuses on the microbiome of gelatinous zooplankton.
Črtomir Perharič
ČRTOMIR E. PERHARIČ BAILEY
young researcher
Telephone:
+386 (0)30 342 616
+386 (0)5 9232 927
E-mail address:
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Areas of interest:
Gelatinous zooplankton
Physical oceanography
Biological carbon pump modelling
SHORT CV
2019-2022:
Bachelor's degree in physics at the Faculty of mathematics and physics, University of Ljubljana.
2022-2025:
Master's degree in computational physics at the Faculty of mathematics and physics, University of Ljubljana.
Master's thesis: "Global ocean estimates of zooplankton contribution to the biological carbon pump using decay models and Lagrangian tracking". Advisor: Asist. Prof. dr. Matjaž Ličer, co-advisor: Asist. Prof. dr. Tinkara Tinta.
One semester of Erasmus+ exchange at the Technical University of Lisbon.
2025-:
PhD student at the Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Department of Ecotechnologies, advisor: dr. Martin Vodopivec.
Young researcher at the Marine Biology Station, NIB.
Ana Fortič
Dr. ANA FORTIČ
Scientific Associate
Phone:
+386 (05) 9232 937
E-mail address:
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Areas of interest:
Ecology of benthic communities
Marine invertebrate biology
Non-indigenous species
Bryozoa
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:
- Non-indigenous bryozoans in the Mediterranean Sea: a threat to ecosystems or only a nuisance? Z1-60165 (ARIS; dr. Ana Fortič, 2025-2026)
- TRECap Trezze, tegnue and the marine environments of the northern Adriatic: capitalization (Interreg Italia-Slovenija; OGS, 2023-2025)
- 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)
- Solutions for the restoration of brown algal forests BI-HR/23-24-021 (ARIS, dr. Martina Orlando Bonaca, 2023-2025)
- Research program Coastal marine research P1-0237 (ARIS; dr. Patricija Mozetič, 2015-2027)
- fDNAaqua – Environmental DNA trapped by filter feeders (fDNA): Tool for monitoring of aquatic biodiversity J1-3015 (ARIS; dr. David Stanković, 2021-2025)
- 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
SLAVICA NASTIĆ
Professional Associate
Telephone:
+386 (0)59 232 918
E-mail address:
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Areas of interest:
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
dr. NEŽA OREL
assistant with a PhD
Telephone:
+386 (0)5 9232 927
E-mail address:
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Areas of interest:
SHORT CV
2025-present: Research Assistant (PhD) at the Marine Biology Station Piran.
2019-2025: PhD studies in Environmental Sciences at the University of Nova Gorica. Employed as a Young Researcher at the National Institute of Biology, Marine Biology Station Piran. Doctoral dissertation entitled “The response of microbes to anthropogenically induced perturbations in the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic Sea)”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Valentina Turk and Assist. Prof. Dr. Tinkara Tinta.
2018-2019: Professional Associate at the Marine Biology Station Piran, National Institute of Biology.
2014-2017: Master’s degree programme in Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Nova Gorica. Master’s thesis entitled "Response of the microbial community to a mixture of hazardous compounds", supervised by Prof. Dr. Valentina Turk.
2011-2014: Bachelor’s degree programme in Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Nova Gorica. Bachelor’s thesis entitled "Impact of a pollutant mixture on the microbial community in seawater from the Gulf of Trieste", supervised by Prof. Dr. Valentina Turk and co-supervised by Dr. Tinkara Tinta.
Links to publications and project work:
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=leEWPLAAAAAJ&hl=sl&oi=ao
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neza-Orel
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5939-7258
Research experience abroad:
September–December 2021: Visiting PhD Student and FEMS Fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. G. J. Herndl, University of Vienna, Austria.
COLABORATIONS
Involvement in national and international research projects:
- - Antibiotic Resistance Genes - Threat to Marine Coastal Ecosystem Services (SEA THREAT) (ARIS J1-70065) (2026 – present), participating researcher.
- - The role of the microbiome in the life and death of bloom-forming jellyfish (JELLY-BIOME) (ARIS J1-60007) (2025 – present), participating researcher.
- - Viral Infection-Driven Changes in Phytoplankton Aggregates and Their Microbial Processing (ARIS J7-70251) (2026 – present), participating researcher.
- - Jellyfish Blooms: An Overlooked Hotspots and Potential Vectors for Antimicrobial Resistance Transmission in the Marine Environment (JELLY-ARM) (BI-DE/25-27-001) (2025 – present), participating researcher.
- - PETRI-MED - Plankton biodivErsity Through Remote sensing and omIcs in the MEDiterranean Sea (Biodiversa+ 2021-2022 Joint Call ‘Supporting the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem across land and sea’) (2024 – present), participating researcher.
- - National Research program P1-0237 Coastal Sea Research (2015-2019, 2020-present), participating researcher.
- - Decay of an invasive ctenophore blooms as a perturbation to the coastal marine microbial community - from molecules to ecosystem - an integrated interdisciplinary approach (J7-2599) (2020-2024), participating researcher.
- - Drivers that structure coastal marine microbiome with emphasis on pathogens – an integrated approach (ARRS J1-9157) (2018-2022), participating researcher.
FIELD OF RESEARCH
My research focuses on marine microbial ecology, with particular emphasis on how anthropogenic disturbances affect microbial communities in coastal environments. I am especially interested in the impacts of wastewater-derived pollution, antimicrobial resistance, and other human-induced pressures on microbial diversity, function, and biogeochemical processes. I combine microbiological, molecular, meta-omics, and bioinformatic approaches to investigate microbial community structure, functional potential, and responses to environmental change.
SELECTED (NEWER) PUBLICATIONS
- OREL, Neža, FADEEV, Eduard, CELUSSI, Mauro, TURK, Valentina, KLUN, Katja, AFJEHI-SADAT, Leila, HERNDL, Gerhard J., TINTA, Tinkara. Down the drain: exploring wastewater’s role in coastal microbiome transformations. Microbiome. 2026, vol. 14, art. no. 46, str. 1-22, ilustr. ISSN 2049-2618
- OREL, Neža, LOKOVŠEK, Ana, ORLANDO-BONACA, Martina, TINTA, Tinkara. Diversity of the surface microbiome of canopy-forming brown macroalgae (Fucales) in the northern Adriatic. Microbiology spectrum. [Spletna izd.]. Apr. 2025, [art. no.] e02204-24, ilustr., zvd. ISSN 2165-0497
- OREL, Neža, FADEEV, Eduard, HERNDL, Gerhard J., TURK, Valentina, TINTA, Tinkara. Recovering high-quality bacterial genomes from cross-contaminated cultures: a case study of marine Vibrio campbellii. BMC genomics. 2024, vol. 25, art. no 146, str. 1-15, ilustr. ISSN 1471-2164
- OREL, Neža, FADEEV, Eduard, KLUN, Katja, LIČER, Matjaž, TINTA, Tinkara, TURK, Valentina. Bacterial indicators are ubiquitous members of pelagic microbiome in anthropogenically impacted coastal ecosystem. Frontiers in microbiology. 2022, vol. 12, str. 1-21, ilustr. ISSN 1664-302X
- MARCHESE, Christian, ZOFFOLI, Maria Laura, RAMOND, Pierre, TINTA, Tinkara, OREL, Neža, et al. Machine learning-driven mapping of prokaryotic community diversity in the Mediterranean Sea using omics, earth observation, and model data. Ecological informatics. May 2026, vol. 95, [article no.] 103747, str. 1-20, ilustr. ISSN 1878-0512
- FADEEV, Eduard, OREL, Neža, TINTA, Tinkara, AFJEHI-SADAT, Leila, LIU, Haoran, et al. Bacterial extracellular vesicles exhibit distinct functional potential across biogeographic provinces of the South Pacific Ocean. The ISME journal. 2026, vol. , str. 1-25, ilustr. ISSN 1751-7370
- ELENA, Alan X., OREL, Neža, FANG, Peiju, HERNDL, Gerhard J., BERENDONK, Thomas U., TINTA, Tinkara, KLÜMPER, Uli. Jellyfish blooms : an overlooked hotspot and potential vector for the transmission of antimicrobial resistance in marine environments. mSystems. ilustr. ISSN 2379-5077
- CELUSSI, Mauro, MANNA, Vincenzo, BANCHI, Elisa, FONTI, Viviana, BAZZARO, Matteo, FLANDER-PUTRLE, Vesna, KLUN, Katja, KRALJ, Martina, OREL, Neža, TINTA, Tinkara. Annual recurrence of prokaryotic climax communities in shallow waters of the North Mediterranean. Environmental microbiology.
Link to COBISS, a Slovenian database containing all my publications
