SHORT CV

After graduating in biology in 1989 at the Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Ljubljana, I earned a position as young researcher at the National Institute of Biology, Marine Biology Station Piran where I still work. I was awarded M.Sc. degree in oceanography (interdisciplinary study) in 1993 at the University of Zagreb and Ph.D. degree in biology in 1997 at the University of Ljubljana. In 2008 I acquired the position of senior research associate.

I was trained abroad several times after applying for grants for attending shorter courses and scholarships (NRC/NAS/BOSTID, NATO-CNR Outreach Fellowship) for visits at foreign research institutions for periods up to 6 months (University of Umeå, Sweden, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, Stazione Zoologica “Anton Dohrn”, Naples, Italy). In 2011 I participated in “Malaspina 2010”, the circumnavigation Spanish (CSIC) research expedition.

I was mentor of two Ph.D. students who applied for the ARRS young researchers’ programme. 

COLLABORATIONS

In 2005 I qualified as the university teacher at the University of Primorska. In the past I was involved in the preparation of undergraduate and graduate university programs and in giving lectures mainly in the field of marine ecology at three Slovenian universities (University of Ljubljana, University of Nova Gorica and University of Primorska). Since 2013 I am also employed at the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies of the University of Primorska and I hold lectures at undergraduate (Aquatic ecosystems) and master’s study programmes (Marine botany and Marine ecology). 

FIELD OF RESEARCH

My fields of expertise are: phytoplankton ecology and physiology of coastal seas, including abundance, taxonomic composition, biomass and photosynthetic properties of phytoplankton and primary production measurements, study of harmful algal blooms, and eutrophication of coastal sea due to land-based pressures. I am involved in the implementation of European legislation in the field of water protection for the assessment of ecological and environmental status of the sea using phytoplankton.

After becoming a Ph.D. graduate I earned a postdoctoral applied research project (L1-1570), which was co-financed by the Municipality of Izola, as well as a Slovenian-Croatian bilateral research project (BI-HR/06-07-017). I collaborated in 9 international projects; six of them are EU projects. I was also a project leader of a smaller UNESCO/IOC project (Mediterranean Action Plan – Technical Support for the Implementation of MED POL – Phase III).

For more than a decade I was being assigned leader of two national monitoring programs, which are in line with EU directives: monitoring of the ecological status of coastal waters (financed by the Slovenian Environment Agency) and monitoring program of toxic phytoplankton species at shellfish growing areas (financed by Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection).

Till now I published 38 original scientific articles (23 in journals with IF).

OTHER ACTIVITIES

I am member of the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM, Monaco) and the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA).

In 1999 I was nominated editor and member of the editorial board of the scientic journal Annales - Annals for Istrian and Mediterranean Studies, Series Historia Naturalis.

In 2001 I was awarded the prize Pro Natura of the joint fund between Dr. Aleksandra Kornhauser and German foundation Boehringer Ingelheim.

In 2002 I was appointed national representative of the Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (IPHAB) of the UNESCO IOC-HAB programme.

SELECTED (NEWER) PUBLICATIONS

 Link to COBISS, a Slovenian database containing all my publications