Ilaria started her journey in academia at the University of Genoa, studying population genetics of the striped barnacle (Balanus amphitrite).

In 2009 Ilaria completed her PhD at University College Dublin (UCD) focussing on the use of molecular genetic approaches to study the evolutionary dynamics of high-profile fish species in Ireland. In her PhD Ilaria also highlighted the inadequacies phenotypic-based identification techniques of hybrid Allis x Twaite shad. As well as furthering insights into the role of hybridization on biodiversity change and assessments in the marine and estuarine environments. During her time at UCD, Ilaria also researched population structures of the European seabass and helped find juvenile gilthead sea bream in estuaries of the South Irish Sea, providing the first evidence of change in gilthead spawning locations. Ilaria also collaborated with project DEECON, on population connectivity of deep-sea sharks and fish.

Ilaria then moved to Wales and studied the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) and using genetics and particle tracking modelling found links between cockle populations of Wales and South Ireland from the larval dispersal across the Irish sea. In 2013 Ilaria Joined the AquaTrace project at KU Leuven and was also a recipient of the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship to work on the Deep sea Lings (Molva genus). Since 2016 Ilaria has been working at University of Salford and has researched topics from the population genetic structures of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) to the use of the eDNA in fishery management.Recently Ilaria has been working as part of the GECKA project on deep-sea  angler fish and is a member of the ICES Working Group for the Application of Genetics to Fisheries and Aquaculture

Our deep-sea keynote speaker is Dr Rui Vieira, who is a Senior Fisheries Scientist at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). His main research interests include fisheries ecology, fish biology and drivers of functioning of deep-sea ecosystems. Rui’s wants to make sure that his research contributes to changing a little the way we see marine ecosystems, in particular deep sea, about which very little is known.

Rui participated in 8 oceanographic expeditions in the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans, as well in sampling campaigns onboard commercial fishery vessels. In 2010, he was awarded with a scholarship for polar research “New Generation of Polar Researchers”, contributing with studies on ecosystem dynamics in the Southern Ocean. His work was recognised with the John Gage Prize at the 14th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium and selected for SET for BRITAIN poster competition 2016 held at the House of Commons, organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. Rui actively contributes to the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) Working Group for the Decade of Deep-Ocean Science and the Challenger 150 programme.

In 2017 Rui completed a PhD in Ocean and Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton, where he demonstrated that isotope-type metrics can provide a powerful proxy to understand (deep-sea) community structure and a useful tool to improve ecosystem-based models. He also found evidence to suggest that changes in benthic nutrient cycling communities can affect secondary production of deep-sea fish communities.

Rui joined Cefas in the same year, where he currently leads science on deep-water fisheries and work relating to conservation and sustainable use of marine fisheries resources, and provides advisory support on assessments and technical measures relating to deep-water fish stocks and ecosystems. Rui is member of the ICES Working Group on the Biology and Assessment of Deep-sea Fisheries Resources (WGDEEP) and Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), which he co-chairs since January 2022.

Rui also holds an Honorary Lectureship in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia and is a member of the Council of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles.