PROJECT PARTNERS

ROCK-ME capitalizes on the complementarity of skills, knowledge and infrastructures of the partners. Project partners will work in close cooperation, integrating their different expertise for a holistic characterization of the study sites, and the production of high-quality research.

In particular, the competence of UNIBZ in the combined monitoring and analysis of hydrological and hydrochemical processes in mountain rivers guarantees the achievement of a detailed understanding of their influence on the different stream typologies. The glaciological, geomorphological and geological expertise and previous investigations on glacier, climate and permafrost conducted by the interdisciplinary research team at IGF/ÖAW, will ensure the identification and characterization of the key features influencing water hydrology and chemistry. The ecologically-oriented partner, FEM, has very strong knowledge and skills in the ecology of alpine freshwaters in relation to environmental constraints and climate variability.

UniBZ

Lorenzo Brusetti, Ph.D.

Role in the project: metagenomic of spring biofilm (co-responsible for WP6), PI and UNIBZ Team Leader from January 2024

I am an environmental microbiologist, tenured researcher at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Competence Centre for Mountain Innovation Ecosystems.
My main research topics are: i) microbial communities as promising bioindicators of emerging pollution, micro-and nanoplastics, and antibiotic resistance; ii) Role in nutrient cycling of microbial communities in high mountain and forests environments.

Federica Piergiacomo, Ph.D.

Role in the project: participation in all the field and laboratory activities related to WP6.

I am an environmental microbiologist, my research focusses on the on the environmental microbial resistomes, in particular related to antibiotic and metal resistances.

Matteo Delpero, research assistant

Role in the project: participation in all the field activities related to WP5.

I am an hydrologist, I graduated with a master's degree in 'Environmental Management of Mountain Areas' with a thesis titled 'Hydrological Characterization with Stable Water Isotopes of Two High-Mountain Catchments in South Tyrol (Italian Alps)' within the framework of the Rock-ME project. Now I am continuing to pursue my interest in the hydrology of alpine streams and the use of stable water isotopes as natural tracers."

FEM

Role in the project: FEM Team Leader, investigating autotrophic and microbial (diatoms, bacteria, Archaea) components of the benthic stream biofilm: diversity and biomass, functional traits (co-responsible for WP6).

I am an aquatic ecologist with a particular interest in the diversity of aquatic microoorganisms and their relation to environmental drivers. My present research focuses on the effects of climate change on water chemistry, biodiversity and functions of Alpine streams and lakes, and on the sediment-based reconstruction of environmental and ecological evolutions of Alpine lakes at a secular scale.

Monica Tolotti, Ph.D.

Role in the project: investigation of invertebrate ecology-related activities (foodwebs and trace metal biomagnification, diversity of benthic taxa, WP6), dissemination (responsible for WP2).

I am a researcher in the Hydrobiology Research Unit at the Research and Innovation centre of FEM. I am an aquatic ecologist with a particular interest in stream and groundwater ecosystems biodiversity and processes. My present research focuses on the ecology of high-altitude streams; the assessment and mitigation of the impacts of hydropower schemes on the ecology of mountain streams; the conservation of endangered aquatic taxa.

Maria Cristina Bruno, Ph.D.

ÖAW

Prof. Andrea Fischer, Ph.D.

Role in the project: ÖAW Team Leader, responsible of WP4 and WP7.

Andrea Fischer is Vice Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Mountain Research. She has been conducting glaciological long-term monitoring in the Austrian Alps for more than 20 years and is the PI of the LTER site Jamtalferner. Her research focusses on glacier mass balance and Eastern Alpine Ice core research as well as interdisciplinary studies.

Giulia Bertolotti,
Ph.D. Candidate

Role in the project: Fieldwork and hydrogeological modelling (responsible for WP5 in Austria field site and collaborating to WP7)

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research (IGF). I have a background in geology, with particular interests in water, high-mountain geomorphology and glaciers. I am collaborating with the Hydrogeology Research Group at the University of Graz to apply and adapt existing hydrogeological models to intact rock glaciers, in order to better understand and quantify the role of rock glacier runoff in high-mountain catchments and its response to climate change.

FORMER TEAM MEMBERS

UniBZ

Prof. Francesco Comiti, Ph.D.

Role in the project: PI and UNIBZ Team Leader and responsible for WP1, WP5 until 31 december 2023.

I am interested in understanding how water, sediment and wood move through the channel network, especially in mountain river basins. The “River Basin Group” at UNIBZ, which I have been leading since 2009, has been investigating for a decade the rapid hydrological and geomorphological changes associated with deglaciation in South Tyrol. Currently, I am the coordinator of the MSc program “Environmental Management of Mountain Areas” offered at UNIBZ.

Stefano Brighenti, Ph.D.

Role in the project: 2022: WP5, installation of field instrumentation at all three sites, collection of field data and water samples; water isotopes analysis; coordination of WP5 activities across sites and working groups.

I am a post-doc researcher as eco-hydrologist, at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Science and Technology. My research mainly focuses on the hydrology, hydrochemistry and ecology of alpine streams, with a particular focus on those fed by glaciers and rock glaciers in the framework of the present deglaciation. Recently, I started focussing on hydrology and hydrochemistry time series, and gained experience in the use of natural tracers, in particular water isotopes.

Francesca Bearzot, Ph.D.

Role in the project: participation in all the field and laboratory activities related to WP5 in 2022.

I am a post-doc researcher at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Science and Technology. I am a geologist with an interest in rock glaciers dynamics and their hydrological impact on streams in Alpine periglacial catchments from a perspective of continuous global warming. My research currently relies on the hydrology and hydrochemistry assessment of alpine streams fed by glaciers and rock glaciers in a state of deglaciation and degradation.

FEM

Role in the project: participation to all the field and laboratory activities of FEM, until March 2024.

I am a stream ecologist with a master in Environmental Biology, my interests deal with ecological and chemical sampling of surface waters, invasive species and scientific dissemination.

Alfredo Maule, technician

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