Download report of the activities: summer school in experimental marine

Associazione For-Mare,
Via Roma 21F, 27010 - Gerenzago
Web site: www.for-mare.eu
Segreteria: [email protected]
&
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell’Ambiente
Via S. Epifanio 14, 27100 Pavia
REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES: SUMMER SCHOOL IN EXPERIMENTAL MARINE ECOLOGY AND GEOBOTANY
MPA BERGEGGI (SV) AND HANBURY GARDENS (IM), 12-22 September 2011
Dario Savini, Angelo Mojetta, Gilberto Parolo, Alessio Rovere, Italo Venzaghi, Sergej Olenin, Anastasja Zaiko, Anna Occhipinti
With the contribution of:
AMP
Bergeggi
SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 2
2. TEACHER GENERALITIES ...................................................................................................................................... 2
3. STRUCTURE AND COURSE CONTENT ................................................................................................................... 4
3.1. Candidate selection procedure, organization and logistics............................................................................. 4
3.2. Detailed programme of the summer school .................................................................................................... 6
3.3. Didactic material............................................................................................................................................... 8
3.4. Scrapbook ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
4. STUDENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 9
4.1 Research Activity 1 – Snorkelling GIS paths in the Bergeggi MPA ................................................................. 10
4.2 Research Activity 2 – BPL Assessment of alien plants in a Mediterranean coastal area ................................ 11
5. BUDGET ............................................................................................................................................................. 13
6. FEEDBACK .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
7. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS...................................................................................................................................... 17
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................................................... 17
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1. INTRODUCTION
The no-profit association For-Mare (www.for-mare.eu) was born in 2010 with the aim of
supporting didactic programs in higher education by co-organizing field work activities and
summer schools in Applied Ecology. For-Mare have built a network of interest amongst national
and international research centers, universities, schools and privates for fund raising and
supporting its activities. It has been collaborating also to the realization of the international
doctorate school MARES (www.mares-eu.org). The association is made of university professors
and researchers that cooperate on a voluntary basis to the elaboration and realization of original
didactic proposals and by university students and common citizens interested in learning the most
updated advances in conservation biology. Most of the activity of the association involve original
data collection from and for Marine Protected Areas (MPA) of Italy. This year, in September 2011
For-Mare was asked by the University of Pavia1 to co-organize and cofinance the first International
Summer School in Experimental Marine Ecology and Geobotany. The summer school took place in
the MPAs of Bergeggi (Savona) and the Hanbury Gardens (Imperia) in 12-22 september. It
involved 7 teachers from Italy (University of Pavia, University of Genova) and Lithuania (University
of Klaipeda) and 11 selected (2nd-3rd year) Bachelors of Sciences students coming from the
universities of: Pavia, Genoa, Klaipeda and Aveiro (Portugal).
The aim of the summer school was to provide participants with baseline knowledge on sampling
design, field data collection, data analysis and interpretation in Geobotany (Mediterranean flora
assessment methods) and Marine Ecology (superior infralittoral marine communities assessment
methods; visual census techniques; habitat mapping techniques; applied marine water chemistry).
Field work activity, laboratory and data analysis took about 40% of the time of the school while
the remaining 60% was dedicated to frontal taught lessons/seminars for a total 6 ECTS. Taught
courses followed the common aim of informing students of two major global vectors of changes
that both terrestrial and marine ecosystems of the world are experiencing nowadays: alien
species introduction and climate change. The summer school was also utilized as a platform to
introduce the aims and objectives of one of the major ongoing EU research action concerning
marine ecology and conservation of the oceans: the FP7 VECTORS project - Vectors of Change in
Oceans and Seas Marine Life. VECTORS seminars have been cited in the first management report
of the research consortium as a programmed dissemination activity of the summer school. The
last day of the school a student workshop was organized as a final follow –up activity. In that
occasion the students had to present to a public assembly the original results of the two major
researches performed during the summer school.
2. TEACHER GENERALITIES
Prof. Anna Occhipinti
Anna Occhipinti is full professor of Ecology at the University of Pavia (Italy). Her main expertise is in the
field of invasive species ecology: since the beginning of ‘80s she has been working in marine and brackish
water environment, focusing on structure and dynamics of macrobenthos, with particular regard to
introduced species and their relationship with the environment. In the summer school she presented
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Framework Agreement nr 51013 13.12.2010.
2
seminars on the EU VECTORS project and on climate change and alien species invasion in the
Mediterranean sea.
Dr Dario Savini
Dario Savini is a Post Doc researcher in Aquatic Ecology of the University of Pavia. He is member of the
scientific committee of the EU funded Doctorate School in Marine Ecosystem Health and Conservation
MARES and president of the For-Mare Association. He organized the summer school in Bergeggi from the
request of funding to its realization.
Prof. Sergej Olenin
Sergej Olenin is Professor in Hydrobiology at Klaipeda University, Lithuania. He has over 30 years’
experience of marine research in the Baltic, White and Black Seas, Svalbard and Pacific Ocean. He is
focusing on the ecosystem change analysis, impacts of alien species and vectors of introductions. In the
summer school he presented seminars concerning Marine Alien Species Ecology and co-organized field
work and practical activities.
Dr. Angelo Mojetta
Angelo Mojetta, graduated at the University of Pavia in 1982, is a free lancer scientist and associated
researcher at the Hydrobiological Station and Aquarium of Milan. His research has been focused on marine
biology and fishes (both freshwater and marine). He has worked in the past with various institutes public
and private on various themes as freshwater fishes ecology, aquaculture, aquatic ecosystem management.
He has been teacher in seminars and training courses on marine biology for students and citizens. He is
deeply involved with divulgative science and underwater exploration and author of books and practical
guides on marine biology and aquatic environment. In the summer school he presented seminars
concerning the marine biology of Mediterranean species, coordinated all the activities of the marine
Ecology session of the school and organized for the students a course and competition of underwater
digital photography.
Dr Gilberto Parolo
Gilberto Parolo has a Post Doc at the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, University of Pavia
(Italy). During his career, he has been working in biology, ecology and taxonomy of plants, sustainable
agriculture, sustainable use of natural resources, demography of alien plants, and climate change effects on
alpine flora. He has gained experience in planning restoration projects, Environmental Impact Assessment,
and in scientific dissemination (several talks in national and international congresses). He published more
than 60 publications (12 ISI: Grass and Forage Science, Perspective in Plant Ecology, Systematics and
Evolution; Agricolture, Ecosystems and Environment; Journal of Applied Ecology; Biological Conservation;
Basic and Applied Ecology; Ecological Modelling; Biodiversity and Conservation; Plant Biosystems). In the
summer school he presented seminars concerning the Mediterranean flora and coordinated all the
activities of the Geobotany session of the school.
Dr Alessio Rovere
Alessio Rovere is a PhD in Marine Environmental sciences, awarded of a European PhD label. His research in
the last years has been focused on coastal geomorphology issues, with particular emphasis on different
themes: -the understanding of landforms related to Late Quaternary sea level changes; -the study of the
relationships between ecology, geomorphology and human impact in coastal and marine environments;the evaluation of marine and coastal natural heritage, especially in Protected Areas and Sites of
Communitary Interest;-the representation of data with GIS and their analysis for problem-solving related to
environmental management. The research in these fields allowed Alessio to publish several papers, some
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of them on ISI Journals, and to hold presentations at both National and International congresses. Working
in an applied branch of earth sciences, Alessio cooperated with other Professionals or Authorities as third
party or sub-contractor of consultancy works. Since 2010, he is co-owner and co-director of an Academic
Spin-off company of Environmental consultancy, SEAMap. In the summer stage he organized a two day
practical activity concerning marine habitat mapping giving both taught lessons and organizing field work
and data collection.
Dr Italo Venzaghi
As professor of Chemistry, with specific experience in Stoichiometry and Chemical Analysis, has worked in
highschool and university courses in Milano and Pavia. He has been teacher in seminars and training
courses on the teaching of chemistry and is co-author of books on the basics of the chemical analysis. He
has been responsible for the chemical analysis in environmental projects and specifically his main interests
concern chemical analysis of waters. In the summer stage he organized one full day of teaching applied
marine water chemistry including laboratory work for assessing nutrients concentration in marine water.
Dr Anastasja Zaiko
Anastasija Zaiko is a researcher at the Coastal Research and Planning Institute, Klaipeda University. Her PhD
research was aimed to define and estimate impact of invasive bivalve Dreissena polymorpha (zebra
mussel) to the Curonian Lagoon’s (SE Baltic Sea) ecosystem, particularly impact on macrozoobenthos
community distribution, biogeochemical processes, ecosystem functioning. In her current work she focuses
on the bioinvasion impact assessment, functional role of invasive species in marine ecosystems. She has
published 7 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, has presented the results of her research at
international conferences and seminars in Europe and USA. A. Zaiko has experience in literature datamining, field sampling, experimentastul dies, statistical analysis of environmental data. In the summer
school she supported as an assistant all the practical activities performed by the students and presented
taught lessons on Alien Species Marine Ecology.
3. STRUCTURE AND COURSE CONTENT
3.1. Candidate selection procedure, organization and logistics
The summer school targeted 1st cycle university students (2nd-3rd year Bachelor’s degree in Environmental
and Biological Sciences). Application was open to any European University and advertised throughout the
MARES consortium (www.mares-eu.org). Four grants covering participation costs (about 700,00 euros) of
international students and two grants (about 340,00 euros) covering half of the costs of Italian students
were issued in April 2011. Advertisement of grants availability and application procedures were published
on the web site of the For-Mare Association (www.for-mare.eu) starting from April 2011. The course was
also advertised by open conferences in the University of Pavia and Genoa.
Application procedures were the following:
1) Signature of a pre-application module (declaration of interest).
2) Production of a certificate of the examinations and scores obtained during the first and the
beginning of the second year of the Bachelor.
3) Production of a candidate curriculum vitae.
4) Production of an “original” motivation letter endorsing in a convincing way the personal scientific
motivation of the candidate for being enrolled in the course.
5) Production of a certificate of English (Toefl, IELTS or similar).
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6) In case of necessity an oral interview using the web Skype application was performed, in order to
check the real competences of the candidate in English listening and speaking.
Applications sorting and consequent examinations of the candidates were performed between April and
May 2011 by a committee formed by personnel (professors and researchers of the Dipartimento di Scienze
della Terra e dell’Ambiente) of the University of Pavia and of the For-Mare Association. We received a total
of 6 application forms from international students and 7 from Italian students. Table 1 reports the applicant
names, their nationality, university of origin and results of selection. A total of 11 applications out of 13
were selected by the committee. The two students not approved were put in a rank of merit as reserves in
case a selected applicant would have to resign his/her participation due to causes of “force majeure”.
Tab. 1 – List of applicants to the summer school. In bold students who have been selected by the scientific committee of the school.
In gray students who resigned participation due to causes of “force majeure”. In yellow students who received the scholarship.
Name and Surname
Age
Nationality
Bachelor
University
Benedetta Bellan
21
Italy
Biology
Pavia
Anna Colucci
20
Italy
Biology
Pavia
Elisabetta Iavarone
20
Italy
Biology
Pavia
Carlotta Meriggi
20
Italy
Biology
Pavia
Eleonora Cappelletti
20
Italy
Biology
Pavia
Denise Dozza
20
Italy
Nat. Sciences
Genoa
Carolina Bello
23
Italy
Env. Sciences
Genoa
Modesta Riaukaite
21
Lithuania
Env. Sciences
Klaipeda
Algirdas Norkus
21
Lithuania
Env. Sciences
Klaipeda
Diana Baryseva
20
Russia
Env. Sciences
Klaipeda
Edita Martinkute
22
Lithuania
Env. Sciences
Klaipeda
Kisonas Kestutis
22
Lithuania
Env. Sciences
Klaipeda
Tania Neves dos Santos
23
Portugal
Biology
Aveiro
Tuition fees (680,00 euro for students without scholarship; 340,00 euro for Italian students who
obtained the scholarship; 0,00 euro for international students who obtained the scholarship) were
collected by the For-Mare Association starting from May 2011. Two meetings with the Director of the
Marine Protected Area of Bergeggi were organized in February and July 2011 in order to set up the
logistical requirements of the school. The residence Claudio www.hotelclaudio.it provided three selfcatering (4 people) apartments for students and 3 single apartments for teachers, a conference room in
the hotel with facilities and two dinners (welcome and final dinner). The Triton Club Diving Center of
Bergeggi www.tritonclub.it provided an “ice-breaking day” of aquaticity and a snorkeling course to the
students, extra insurance for water activities in the MPA and diving equipment. The MPA of Bergeggi
www.ampisolabergeggi.it provided free guided excursions to the island of Bergeggi and to the cave
“Grotta del Treno” and all extra logistic needs. A local fishermen provided a fishery excursion. The
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private company SEAMAP S.r.l. www.seamap.it provided a two day technical course on coastal habitat
mapping. The Hanbury gardens administration www. www.giardinihanbury.com provided 50%
reduction fee to students and teachers entering the gardens. Extra sponsorhips for the realization of
the summer school where provided by NIMAR SRL www.nimar.it who supplied for free 7 underwater
digital camera kits to the students, VWR International www.it.vwr.com who provided for free kits for
water chemistry analysis, Lofarma www.lofarma.it who provided gadgets fore participants and
Fondazione AMGA, Genoa www.fondazioneamga.org that covered Minivan rental costs for student
transfer during their excursions.
3.2. Detailed programme of the summer school
Monday 12 – Evening

16.00 Transfer from the airport

21.30. Ice breaking dinner
Tuesday 13 – Morning

8.30-12.30 Course Activities presentations and introductive seminars, Occhipinti (Residence’s conference room):
The Marine Protected Area of Bergeggi (Bava MPA director)
Mediterranean Flora and Vegetation (Parolo)
Life in the superior infralittoral fringe (Mojetta)
Tuesday 13 – Afternoon

15.00-17.00 Aquaticity and tests of snorkelling equipment with diving instructors (Triton Diving, Mojetta)

18.30 -20.30 Seminar: How to perform fish transects and visual census for benthos using quadrats (Mojetta)
Wednesday 14 – Morning

8.00 – 12.00 Botanic excursion in Bergeggi (Parolo)
Wednesday 14 – Afternoon

14.00-15.00 Seminar: Digital underwater photography (Mojetta)

15.00 – 16.00 Practical: Digital underwater photography (Mojetta)

16.00 – 18.00 Practical: Counts x time transects, use of quadrats (Mojetta)
Thursday 15 Morning

8.00-10.00 Practical: Census of terrestrial flora (littoral) (Parolo)

10.00-12.00 Practical: Visual census for marine organisms (data collection for Reef Check Project, Jellyfish project, Tropical Signals
project) (Mojetta)
Thursday 15 Afternoon

14.00-16.00 Practical: Census of terrestrial flora (island) (Parolo, Bava)

18.00-19.00 Seminar: Follow up –census of terrestrial flora (Parolo)

19.30 – 20.30 Practical: Night census of marine organisms (Mojetta)
Friday 16 Morning

9.00-12.00 Seminars: Habitat mapping (Rovere, Bianchi, Morri)
Friday 16 Afternoon

14.00-16.00 Practical: Habitat Mapping «Building up snorkelling pathways in the MPA» (Rovere, Mojetta)
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
18.00-20.00 Seminar: Follow up, Habitat mapping data (Rovere)
Saturday 17 Morning

8.00-10.00 Practical: Habitat mapping, data collection (Mojetta, Rovere)

10.00-12.00 Practical: Data analysis (Rovere)
Saturday 17 Afternoon

14.00-16.00 Practical: Habitat mapping –data analysis (Rovere)

16.00-18.00 Practical: Digital Underwater Photography (Mojetta)

19.00- 20.00 Practical: Mediterranean fish cooking exercise (Mojetta)
Sunday 18 Morning

8.30 -12.30 Seminars:
Biological Invasions in the European Seas – state of the art (Olenin)
Alien Species and Impact Assessment – BPL (Zaiko)
Alien Species and Climate Change (Occhipinti)
Alien Flora in Mediterranean coastal areas (Parolo)
Sunday 18 Afternoon

15.00-17.00 Practical: Habitat mapping and video -mosaiquing exercise (Olenin, Mojetta, Zaiko)
Monday 19

11.00 – 19.00 Hanbury Gardens excursion (Parolo)
Tuesday 20 – Morning

9.00-12.00 Seminars:
Marine Water Chemistry (Venzaghi)
Fotometric analysis for nutrients (Venzaghi)
Tuesday 20 – Afternoon

14.00 -16.00 Practical: sampling and fotometric analysis for nutrients in marine waters (Venzaghi)

16.00-18.00 Visit to the Grotta del Treno (Parolo, Rovere, Local MPA guide)
Wednesday 21 – Morning

8.30-12.00 Summing up data with teachers:
3 working groups preparing ppt presentations for a small scientific meeting in the afternoon
1.
Local flora investigation (Parolo)
2.
Snorkelling underwater pathways in Bergeggi MPA (Mojetta, Rovere)
3.
C. racemosa population study in Bergeggi (Olenin, Zaiko)
Wednesday 21 – Afternoon

16.00-18.00 Student workshop

18.00-19.00 Underwater digital photography awards

20.00 Social Dinner
Thursday 22 –Morning
9.00 Transfer to the airport
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3.3. Didactic material
Each participant was provided with a “study kit” consisting in: 1 GByte flash pen containing all teachers
lessons and pdf copies of relevant literature, an underwater pvc tablet with pencil and rubber, a medical
instrument “Otovent” developed by Lofarma, helping compensation during apnea, a t-shirt and other
gadgets.
3.4. Scrapbook
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4. STUDENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES RESULTS
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4.1 Research Activity 1 – Snorkelling GIS paths in the Bergeggi MPA
Responsible teachers: Alessio Rovere, Angelo Mojetta, Sergej Olenin, Anastasja Zaiko
Introduction and methods
The main aim of the module was to provide students an example of the construction of a GIS cartography.
The practical example proposed to students was the creation of a simple snorkeling path in the Bergeggi
MPA, which was to contain values related to biological, ecological and geological sciences. The teachers
provided students with lectures on the theory of cartography and use of GIS software, and their application
for mapping in coastal and marine environments. This work has been completed and increased with
theoretic seminars on marine ecology of the Mediterranean Sea and the faunal composition and zonation
of the Ligurian coast followed by practical field activities with observations and identification of marine
animals and algae (Fig. 1). Starting with these infomations, students organized and carried out field
activities, and with the data collected in the field they were able to create a GIS cartography of the
snorkeling paths in the MPA. Teachers, in the phase of final cartography, acted as responsible of the MPA
providing official cartographies and baseline data and performing quality control on the GIS cartography.
The module was divided into different parts:
Part 1 - Lectures on cartographical methods and on the use of GIS.
Part 2 - Lecture on natural heritage values in coastal and marine environments.
Part 3 - Planning of field activities.
Part 4 - Performing of field activities, with mapping of natural heritage values.
Part 5 - GIS database containing the snorkeling paths with the associated values of
and mapping of the paths.
Part 6 - Discussion and presentation of the results.
natural
heritage,
Results and conclusive remarks
The students, divided into three groups, produced the map of the snorkeling paths of the Bergeggi
MPA (Fig. 1). The study identified: 1) snorkeling pathways accessibility as “entering-exit points”,
“resting points”, estimation of the level of difficulty (easy, hard); 2) major geological
characteristics of the seabed (i.e granulometry, sand, gravel, silts, boulders etc); 3) major
biological characteristics i.e. the dominant flora and fauna taxa present.
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Fig. 1 – GIS Map of the snorkeling pathways in the MPA of Bergeggi, realized by students. In green Easy tracks; in Red
difficult tracks. Data on geology, accessibility and major biological characteristics are indicated in the map.
4.2 Research Activity 2 – BPL Assessment of alien plants in a Mediterranean coastal area
Responsible teachers: Gilberto Parolo, Sergej Olenin, Anastasja Zaiko
Introduction and methods
In the last 50 years we assisted to a great increase in alien plants across Europe (Chytry et al., 2009,
Diversity Distrib.). As a consequence, the monitoring of alien plant species has been more and more
important to follow up their spreading and behavior. This approach needs the use of strong monitoring
protocols which should be repeated at least yearly. The aims of this activity were 1) to study the abundance
and distribution of some alien plant species in a Mediterranean coastal area, and 2) to evaluate if the
Biopollution Level (BPL) assessment method - that is a new method usually applied in marine alien species
(Olenin et al., 2007 – Marine Pollution Bulletin) - could fit also for plant species. Within BLP, we use only the
abundance and distribution range (ADR) assessment. Before this method, in plant ecology exist several
local approaches but not really generalizable. We applied the ADR protocol to two transects of about 750 m
of secondary roads in Bergeggi (Savona, NW-Italy). Four invasive alien species were detected, growing in
ruderal habitats and coming from America: Erigeron sumatrensis and E. bonariensis (Asteraceae),
Amaranthus deflexus (Amaranthaceae), Phytolacca decandra (Phytolaccaceae) (Fig. 2).
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a)
c)
b)
d)
Fig. 2 – Four alien plants in Bergeggi: a) Erigeron sumatrensis; b) Amaranthus deflexus; c) E. bonariensis; d)
Phytolacca decandra.
Results and conclusive remarks
The ADR assessment gave the following results:
SPECIES
Erigeron sumatrensis
Erigeron bonariensis
Amaranthus deflexus
Phytolacca decandra
1st transect
C
B
B
A
ADR assessment
2nd transect
C
A
B
A
Final score
C
B
B
A
A = very low numbers in a few localities
B = low numbers in many localities
C = low/moderate abundance in many localities.
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Our results suggested that ADR approach could fit also for the evaluation of plant biopollution,
notwithstanding our assessment was done not in natural or semi-natural habitats as requested by the
protocol, but in narrow ruderal habitats, along the sides of the roads or in close proximity; actually, in the
Mediterranean region, alien plants do not penetrate (or very few) in natural habitats. Although in our BPL
evaluation we had just few replicates, our results did not allow to get a real assessment. However, the
setting up of a permanent monitoring system in a coastal Mediterranean belt, will permit to yearly assess
the spreading behavior of the selected alien species.
5. BUDGET
The summers school was partly financed by the academic fund “Bando di Ateneo - International Summer e
Winter School – anno 2011” of the University of Pavia (55%), partly by students participation costs (30%)
and partly by the Association For-Mare (15%). A contribution of 680.00 euro for each Italian student was
asked as participation costs covering living expenses, a contribution of 340.00 euro was asked as
participation costs for Italian student awarded with a scholarship, no contribution to participation costs was
asked to international students awarded with a scholarship. The total available budget was: 7000.00
(UNIPV fund) + 4080.00 (tuition fees) = 11080.00.
As the entire organization of the summers school was supported by the association FOR-MARE under a
specific agreement referring to the framework agreement n. 51013 Dec 2010 (framework agreement for
the realization of summer school of academic interest), UNIPV fund were transferred to the bank account
of the association, who administered them for the realization of the summer school, collecting tuition fees
and paying all expenses. Table 2 shows expenses for the organization of the course and the relative
cofinancing needed in relation to the initial budget.
Table 2-Summer school budget.
Euros (0,00)
Initial buget
Expenses - voices
Expenses- costs
(euro)
Additional funds
(For-Mare)
UNIPV fund
+7000.00
N. 7 teacher’s mobility and
accommodation costs
-2700.00
Tuition fees
+4080.00
N.
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student
accommodation costs
-5600.00
N. 1 external consultant
-350.00
(SEAMAP)
Total budget
+11080.00
Diving support
-1000.00
Other organization costs
(meetings,
mobility,
telephone,
didactic
materials and gadgets )
-2532.00
Total costs
-12906.00
1826.00
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6. FEEDBACK
Both students and teachers were asked to compile a feedback module at the end of the course (Tabs 3,4).
As far as the students evaluation is concerned the overall evaluation of the summer school was very good,
both teaching and general organization was evaluated between good and the best. A margin for
improvement is related to the following issues that have been put in evidence by some of the participants:
1) Italian teachers have not used only English language as required. Being an international
summer course where English is supposed to be the common language, this should have
been used more frequently, not only in formal teaching occasions.
2) Transfer services from the accommodation to the sites of field activities could be
augmented in order to increase field work time.
Issue n. 2 could be solved with additional funding but participation costs would increase
dramatically (+270 euros per student for a daily transfer service in the case of the present summer
school).
The overall teachers evaluation of students quality and course organization was even better, with
scores ranging from very good to the best. They also suggested to improve transfer services and
to increase time dedicated to data analysis and final ppt presentations.
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Tab. 3 – Feedback of students evaluating teachers capabilities and course organization
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Tab. 4 – Feedback of teachers evaluating students capabilities and course organization.
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7. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS
The international summer school in Experimental Marine Ecology and Geobotany represented a highly
positive experience both for participants and teachers involved. The enthusiastic answer of both students
and teachers to the “applied didactic on the field” strengthen the consideration that there is a need for
these kind of initiatives. Summer schools are usually organized at a higher level of the academic career,
usually from master to doctoral studies. This positive experience demonstrated that similar projects can
target also students of the first didactic cycle. The Association FOR-MARE so far organized 5 summer
schools for the University of Pavia. The overall impression is that summer schools, if well structured, can be
amazing powerful didactic tools which enable both to increase students enthusiasm in their studies and
outreach for biodiversity conservation issues. We are grateful to the University of Pavia that so far
supported our proposals and we are looking forward to strengthen the collaboration in order to develop in
the future more and more projects of scientific excellence for the benefit of students.
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the first instance we wish to thanks our experienced teachers of the summer school. They accepted to
work on a voluntary basis notwithstanding being in some cases important personalities of the academy thus with very short free time - and in other cases non structured personnel of the university - thus with a
serious need for a stipend. Their contribution and creativity in shaping taught lessons and fieldwork
experiences was priceless. A special thanks to Dr Simone Bava, the director of the MPA of Bergeggi who
has been solving all logistical issues and arrangements during the course sessions. Thanks to Dott.ssa Alice
Lodola of the For-Mare Association who organized the secretariat of the summer school. A final thanks to
all the sponsors:
University of Pavia; Fondazione AMGA; NIMAR SRL; LOFARMA; VWR International.
Pavia, 12.10.2011
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