Academic position: Research Associate

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Contact Details:

IMAR/DOP - University of the Azores
Cais de Santa Cruz
PT- 9901-862 Horta - Azores - Portugal

Tel: (+351)292 200 400   
Fax: (+351)292 200 411
E-mail: sstefanni@uac.pt

 

Education and Degree:

• 1996-2000: PhD at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol (UK), under the supervision of Prof. P.J. Miller.

• 1986-1992: Graduate in Biology (marine studies) at the University of Genova (Italy).

• 1981-1986: High school: Nautical Institute "S.Giorgio" of Genova for ship's Captain

Current position and activities:

• Since 2008: contracted as Research Associate for the position of "molecular phylogeny and population genetics of marine fishes" at the IMAR/DOP, University of the Azores.

• Since 2008: invited to integrate the team of researchers of the newly launched IBBA (Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the Azores).

• Since 2006: I am involved with the teaching at the Master course "MEIO" at the University of the Azores and Polytechnic Institute of Peniche (Portugal) for the disciplines of "Evolution and Phylogeny", "Population Genetics", practical laboratories in Molecular Biology and seminars.

Previous professional experience (last 5 years):

• 2001-2007: postdoctoral researcher for the position of "molecular population genetics" at the University of the Azores, Dept of Oceanography and Fisheries under the supervision of Dr. R.S. Santos. During this period I have taken part to several cruises onboard of the Research Vessel "Arquipelago".

• February-March 2006: I spent a period of 6 weeks in the molecular lab at the Marine Science Research Centre, SUNY Stony Brook University collaborating with Dr B. Allam with the objective of detecting genetic variability among Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX) strains.

• 2004 1-6 September: organiser of the Iº Workshop in Marine Molecular Phylogenetics: "Use of Molecular Markers for the Study of Marine Biodiversity" held at the "Centro do Mar", Azores.

Main research interests: Molecular Systematics and evolutionary ecology, population genetics in marine fishes, biodiversity and conservation.

Involvement in International Projects:

• ReDEco "Regional Drivers of Ecosystem Change and its Influence on Deep-Sea Populations in the Mediterranean". Three year project approved by the European Science Foundation (ESF) under the MarinERA programme and it involves the collaboration between Greece, Spain, France and Portugal, for which I represent the Principal Investigator and the Project Leader is Dr Nikolaos Lampadariou. (starting on April 1, 2009)

• CONDOR "Observatory for long-term study and monitoring of Azorean seamount ecosystems". Three years project co-financed by the EEA Grants Financial Mechanism, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (proposal No. PT0040). The principal investigator is Dr Gui Menezes. (ongoing)

• BIODEEPSEA "Biodiversity of defense, stress-related and environmental molecular responses in deep-sea organisms from the Azores: looking for new biological factors with a potential use in marine biotechnology". Three years project funded by the Regional Government of the Azores (Dept of Science and Technology) to launch research at IBBA (Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the Azores). (ongoing)

• DEECON, a 3 years project recently approved by the European Science Foundation, under the EUROCORES programme (Proposal 06-EuroDEEP-FP-008-DEECON) and in which I represent the Principal Investigator for Portugal. In this project the other partners involved are Norway, Ireland and United Kingdom. Different research groups will be involved in separate work packages in which population structure of selected species will be explored using molecular tools (microsatellites as well as sequences polymorphisms) and otoliths microchemistry. In parallel, oceanographic data (currents and bathymetry) will be used to generate a model able to characterize the potential connectivity routes for the pelagic life stages.

• "Biodiversity of defence molecules in marine invertebrates: looking for new biological factors with biomedical applications" project coordinated by Dr. R. Bettencourt from DOP, University of the Azores and funded by the Luso-American Foundation (FLAD) for 12 months (from mid 2006 to mid 2007). The project sees also the involvement of myself and Dr. B. Allam from the Marine Science Research Centre, SUNY Stony Brook University, NY (USA).

• MarBEF, a network of excellence "Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning" funded by the European Union (contract No GOCE-CT-2003-505446) and consisting of 83 European marine institutes, is a platform to integrate and disseminate knowledge and expertise on marine biodiversity, with links to researchers, industry, stakeholders and the general public

• OASIS "Oceanic Seamounts: An Integrated Study". Three years project funded by the European Commission and coordinated by University of Hamburg (contract No EVK3-CT-2002-00073-OASIS)

• MAR-ECO "Mid-Atlantic Ecosystem Project, patterns and processes of the ecosystems of the northern mid-Atlantic" coordinated by the University of Bergen (Norway) and part of the The Census of Marine Life pilot program (CoML) funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Most recent publications (last 5 years)

• Knutsen H., Jorde P.E., Sannæs H., Bergstad O.A., Stefanni S., Johansen T. and Stenseth N.C. 2009. Oceanic gene flow and bathymetric barriers shaping genetic structure in a deepwater demersal fish (Brosme brosme). Molecular Ecology (Submitted)

• White T.A., Stefanni S., Stamford J. and Hoelzel A.R. 2009. Ocean basin panmixia in a long-lived, deep-sea fish with well defined habitat dependence and relatively low fecundity. Molecular Ecology (Submitted)

• Stefanni S., Bettencourt R., Knutsen H. and Menezes G. 2009. Rapid PCR-RFLP method for discrimination of the two Atlantic cryptic deep-sea species of scabbardfish. Molecular Ecology Resources (In press)

• Francisco S.M., Congiu L., Stefanni S., Castilho R., Brito A., Ivanova P.P., Levy A., Cabral H., Kilias G. and Almada V.C. 2008. Phylogenetic relationships of the north-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean forms of Atherina (Pisces, Atherinidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48: 782-788.

• Domingues V.S., Stefanni S., Brito A., Santos R.S. and Almada V.C. 2008. Phylogeography and demography of the Blenniid Parablennius parvicornis and its sister species P. sanguinolentus from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46: 397-402.

• Domingues V.S., Faria C., Stefanni S., Santos R.S., Brito A. and Almada V.C. 2007. Genetic divergence in the Atlantic-Mediterranean Montagu's blenny Coriphoblennus galerita (Linnaeus 1758) revealed by molecular and morphological characters. Molecular Ecology 16: 3592-3605.

• Stefanni S., Porteiro F., Bettencourt R., Gavaia P. and Santos R.S. 2007. Molecular insights indicate that Pachycara thermophilum (Geistdoerfer, 1994) and P. saldanhai (Biscoito and Almeida, 2004) (Perciformes: Zoarcidae) from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are synonymous species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45: 423-426.

• Bettencourt R., Roch P., Stefanni S., Rosa D., Colaço A., and Santos R.S. 2007. Deep sea immunity: unveiling immune constituents from the hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus. Marine Environmental Research 64: 108-127.

• Stefanni S. and Knutsen H. 2007. Phylogeography and demographic history of the deep-sea fish, Aphanopus carbo (Lowe, 1839), in the NE Atlantic: vicariance followed by secondary contact or speciation? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 42: 38-46.

• Stefanni S., Domingues V., Bouton N., Santos R.S., Almada F., and Almada V., 2006. Phylogeny of the shanny, Lipophrys pholis, from the NE Atlantic using mitochondrial DNA markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39: 282-287.

• Stefanni S., 2005. Phylogeography of the shanny, Lipophrys pholis, based on mtDNA control region. Arquipelago - Life and Marine Sciences 22A: 5-8.

• Stefanni S., Bried J., and Bettencourt R., 2005. Use of molecular markers for the study of marine biodiversity (Acta of the 1^st International workshop). Arquipelago - Life and Marine Sciences 22A: 1-32.