Chiara D'Agata

For my PhD, I am focusing on sustainable fisheries and coastal development from an island perspective. The overall aim of my project is to expand our understanding of coastal habitats, in particular shallow water bays, their role in supporting healthy fisheries, and the factors influencing the broader social-ecological system.

My main supervisor is Wijnand Boonstra; I am co-supervised by Sieglind Wallner-Hahn, Tom Staveley (SLU), and Helene Martinsson-Wallin.

I am a marine ecologist with a focus on marine ecosystem structure, the interactions between humans and coastal habitats, and how to find ways to promote a sustainable use of marine resources.

I obtained a BSc in Zoology from University College Cork, Ireland, followed by a MSc in Marine Biology from Stockholm University, Sweden. For my master’s thesis I investigated how different social and ecological factors shape small-scale fisheries in Mozambique, combining semi-structured interviews with data from ecological surveys and habitat mapping. After my graduation I worked as a research and field assistant at Stockholm University and for private consultancy firms, focusing primarily on Baltic ecology and environmental monitoring of fresh-r and marine waters. In 2017 I joined the Baltic National Monitoring Program of vegetated bottoms, where I worked until 2020.

For my PhD, I am adopting a multidisciplinary approach, combining ecological surveys with interview studies with stakeholders, to investigate the main social and ecological factors at play in coastal development and fisheries.

My work runs in collaboration with a PhD student from the department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University, Beatrice Krooks. Together we investigate how human responses to past challenges and environmental conditions can inform us on the present and help us developing adaptive strategies for a sustainable use of coastal resources.

My research group is led by Associated Professor Lina Mtwana Nordlund and include Sieglind Wallner Hahn, Johann Stiepani, Linda Eggertsen, and Adrianus Both. Our group focuses on sustainable coastal development, fisheries management, and seagrass and other coastal habitats functionality and conservation, both in the Baltic sea and in tropical marine systems.