Expertise:
Environmental Toxicology, Physiological Ecology, Nuclear Disaster Adaptation, Environmental Disaster Impacts, Ecological Effects of Radiation, Chernobyl, Fukushima, Evolutionary Biology, Biology, Radioactive Contamination, Chemical Contamination, Epigenetic Inheritance, Genetic Damage, Radiation, PFAS, Urbanization, Urban Contaminants, Light Pollution, Noise PollutionAndrea Bonisoli Alquati’s research examines physiological and genetic responses to environmental disturbance and contamination, focusing on landscape-level experimental conditions created by environmental disasters, particularly the nuclear accidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima, and on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The team assesses the response of individual organisms using genetic, physiological and behavioral analyses. Variation across species in their exposure and sensitivity to contamination is analyzed in relationship to the ecological traits of the different species and used to predict their responses to contamination over time.
BonisoliAlquati has recently expanded his research to emerging contaminants and urban development. One project involves a multi-university team sampling microplastic levels in the ocean along the Southern California coast. A second project is measuring the physiological response of birds to urbanization-related contaminants in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Recent Grants and Fellowships:
- CSU COAST (co-PI; PI: Erika Holland, CSULB), with S. Anderson, M. Paig-Tran, M. Woo,”Microplastic Sampling, Processing and Detection Workshop,” $29,194, 2019
- Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) (co-PI; PI: Nancy Rabalais, LSU), with P.C. Stouffer, S.S. Taylor, E. Turner, and others, “Oil Spills as Stressors in Coastal Marshes: The Legacy and the Future (CWC)”, $32,005, 2017
- National Institutes of Health/Columbia University, (co-PI; with T.A. Mousseau, PI; W. Karmaus, co-PI), “Biodosimetry of Children Exposed to Low-level Radioactive Contamination,” $64,132.00
Selected Publications:
- With G. Formenti Chiara, L. Poveda, K.J. Francoijs, L. Canova, L. Gianfranceschi and D.S.N. Horner, “SMRT long-read sequencing and Direct Label and Stain optical maps allow the generation of a high-quality genome assembly for the European barn swallow (Hirundo rustica rustica),”GigaScience 8: 1—9, 2018
- With S. Ostermiller, D.E. Beasley, S.M. Welch, A.P. Møller and T.A. Mousseau, “Faster development covaries with higher DNA damage in grasshoppers (Chorthippus albomarginatus) from Chernobyl,” Physiological and Biochemical Zoology,91:776–787, 2018
- With P.C. Stouffer, S. Woltmann, E. Turner and S.S. Taylor, “Incorporation of oil carbon in a terrestrial bird,” Environmental Research Letters, 11: 114023, 2016 [covered by: BBC, Sierra Magazine, EcoWatch, Inside Science, United Press International, Breitbart News]
- With F. Brechignac, D. Oughton, C. Mays, L.W. Barnthouse, J.C. Beasley, C. Bradshaw, J. Brown, S. Dray, S. Geras’kin, T. Glenn, K. Higley, K. Ishida, L.A. Kapustka, W. Kuhne, M. Lynch, T. Mappes, S. Mihok, A.P. Møller, C. Mothersill, T.A. Mousseau, J. Otaki, E. Pryakhin, O.E. Rhodes Jr, B. Salbu and P. Strand, “Addressing ecological effects of radiation on populations and ecosystems to improve protection of the environment against radiation: Agreed statements from a Consensus Symposium,” Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 158: 21-29, 2016
- With D. Einor, D. Costantini, T.A. Mousseau and A.P. Møller, “Ionizing radiation, antioxidant response and oxidative damage: A meta-analysis,” Science of the Total Environment548-549: 463-471, 2016
- With H.Koyama, D. Tedeschi, W. Kitamura, H. Suzuki, S. Ostermiller**, E. Arai, A.P. Møller and A. Mousseau, “Abundance and genetic damage of barn swallows from Fukushima,” Scientific Reports 5: 9432, 2015 [covered by: CBS News, Phys.org]
Interviews:
- “Exploring Chernobyl: How Radiation Changes a Territory,” Cal Poly Pomona Tedx Talk, May 19, 2017
- “Oil from Deepwater Horizon is Found in Birds,” Sierra, Dec. 6, 2016
- “BP Deepwater Horizon oil in land-animal food chain,” BBC News, Nov. 16, 2016
- “Oil from Deepwater Horizon Found in Terrestrial Birds,” Inside Science, Nov. 16
- “4 Years After the Meltdown, Investigating Fukushima’s Ecological Toll,” Scientific American, Feb. 1, 2015
- “Near site of Fukushima disaster, birds still in peril,” CBS News, April 16, 2015
Education:
B.S., Natural Sciences; M.S., Analysis and Management of Natural Populations; & Ph.D., Ecology, Università degli studi di Milano
Languages:
English, Italian (mother tongue)