Personal details:

Name: Paolo Ciavola

Date of birth:
21 August 1964

Nationality:
Italian

Present Position:
Senior Lecturer (Environmental Geology)

Work Address:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra
Facoltà di Ingegneria
Università di Ferrara
Corso Ercole I d'Este, 32
44100 Ferrara Italia

new address from march 2005
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra
Facoltà di Ingegneria
Università di Ferrara
Via Saragat, 1
44100 Ferrara Italia

Tel.: +0532-293720 Fax: +0532-206468

e-mail: cvp@dns.unife.it; ciavola@libero.it

University Education:

1990

Master Degree in Geological Sciences awarded by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Bologna with the grade of 110/110 (First Class).

Title of thesis: "Coastal Morphodynamics of Spurn Head (UK): an example of Coastal Modelling".
Internal Supervisor Prof. M. Ciabatti.
Research carried out at the University of Hull (U.K) under the supervision of Prof. J.S. Pethick.

1999

Ph.D. in Marine Sciences awarded by UCTRA, University of Algarve (Faro, Portugal).

Title of thesis: "Sediment transport processes on reflective beaches: field experiments in the Algarve".
Supervisor Prof. J.M.A. Dias. External examiners: Prof. M.B. Collins (Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, UK) and Prof. Ing. Ramiro Neves (Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal).

Visiting Research Fellowships

1995

Human Capital and Mobility Programme (European Union) to study for 18 months beach processes in Portugal at the University of Algarve.

1999

NATO Senior Visiting Fellowship to spend two months at the University of Algarve (Faro, Portugal), to study saltmarsh geomorphology.

2000

Bologna-Clare Hall Visiting Fellowship to visit Clare Hall College at the University of Cambridge to study saltmarshes in Essex (UK) and mudflats in the Scheldte Estuary (NL).

Professional Career

1990-1991
Research Assistant to Prof. J.S. Pethick, School of Geography & Earth Resources and Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, UK.
Under contract to the Spurn Heritage Trust. Working on the following topics: beach monitoring, wave measurements, modelling of wave refraction patterns.

1991-1996
Coastal Geomorphologist (Scientific Officer) at the British Geological Survey, part of NERC-UK (National Environment Research Council). During the period June 1995-September 1996 is sent to Portugal on study leave.

Main projects undertaken:

• Marine Survey of the Irish Sea, contract for the Crown Estate (UK).
  Activities: compilation of sedimentological datasets to build a database and prepare thematic maps.
  
  
• Land-Ocean Interaction Study, research project of NERC
  Activities: core logging, compilation of stratigraphical data for a GIS, interpretation of sedimentological and geochemical data.
  
  
• Study of the Albanian coastline sponsored by the Environmental Know How Fund (ODA-Foreign Office, UK).
  Activities: interpretation of LANDSAT imagery and aerial photography, sediment sampling and sea-bed surveying in the Bay of Durres and in the Lagoon of Karavasta, preparation of training schemes and coastal zone management plans.
  
  
• Environmental Impact Assessment for the modernisation of the airport of Beirut, Lebanon, under contract to Huntings Ltd .
  Activities: marine sediment sampling, geomorphological mapping, core logging, EIA on the marine and coastal environment, feasibility study for a coastal runway, feasibility study of a new coastal road.
  
  
• Sediment transport around Nash Bank, Severn Estuary, (UK), under contract to HR Ltd.
  Activities: side-scan sonar interpretation.

1995-1996
Visiting Fellow (Investigador Convidado) at the University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal.
Working on the study of longshore transport and developing field equipment for measurements of waves, currents and suspended sediment.


1996-present
Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ferrara.
Undertakes research in the Department of Earth Sciences on sediment transport, coastal sedimentology, coastal geomorphology, coastal management. Teaches one module of Environmental Geology to Civil Engineering students (BEng) and a full course of Environmental Geology to students reading for the degrees in Geological and Natural Sciences (MSc).

In charge for the following research projects as Chief Scientist:

• Feed-backs of Estuarine Circulation and Transport of Sediments on Phytobenthos (F-ECTS).
  
  Research project financed by UE-MAST (Marine Science and Technologies) for the period 1998-2001 with partners institutes in Italy, Portugal, UK, Germany and Denmark. The study focuses on the interaction between biological and physical process in lagoon and estuarine environments. The authors carries out physical measurements in the Lagoon of Venice (Italy) and the Ria Formosa (Portugal).
  
  
• Sediment and Water Movement in Industrialised Estuarine Environments (SWAMIEE)
  
  Research project financed by UE-TMR (Training and Mobility of Researchers) for the period 1998-2001 with partners institutes in Italy, Portugal, UK, France, Ireland and Denmark. The project studies water and sediment movement in large European estuaries. The author undertakes fieldwork in the Gironde Estuary (France) and the Guadiana Estuary (Portugal).
  
  
• Rationale for Integrated Coastal Area Management (RICAMA)
  
  Project financed by UE-LIFE (1997-2000) as a part of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Integration Programme for the preparation of a database on coastal erosion in the Abruzzo region (central Italy). The authors is in charge of the compilation of geomorphological and sedimentological data.
  
  
• Inlet Nearshore Dynamics Initiative Algarve (INDIA)
  
  Research project financed by UE-MAST III (1997-2000) to study coastal process at inlets. The author is a sub-contractor to the University of Algarve to carry out field measurements of waves and currents.
  
  
• Wave dissipation on natural and artificially created saltmarshes
  
  Research project financed by the UK Royal Society, undertaken in co-operation with the Cambridge Coastal Research Unit (CCRU) of the University of Cambridge (director Dr T. Spencer). The project studies the dissipation of wind waves and boat wakes in the marshes of the lagoon of Venice.
  
  
• Assessing the stability of mudflat surfaces by mapping sediment characteristics and extremely sparse vegetation and algae cover with hyperspectral imaging (HYSENS)
  
  Research project financed by the UE-Access to Large Scale Facilities. The study has chosen as test site the Westerschelde Estuary in the Netherlands. The author carries out morphological and sedimentological studies together with the University of Cambridge (Dr Iris Moeller) and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (Dr. Geoff Smith).
  
  
• PRediction Of The Erosion of Cliffed Terrains (PROTECT)
  
  Research project financed by the UE-5th Framework, for the development of innovative geophysical methodologies to monitor and predict erosion of coastal cliffs. The author contributes carrying out a desk study on the problem of cliff erosion on stretches of the Italian coastline.
  
  
• Evolution of coastal lakes in Sicily
  
  Research project financed by the University of Ferrara to study the Vendicari lakes in Sicily. The project studies sedimentation in the back-barrier environment and evaluates the importance of overwash events. The study is carried out by collecting vibracores and monitoring seasonal beach profile change.