Melisa Fernández Severini is an Independent Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and co-director of the Transition Environments Chemistry Research Group (GIQAT) at the Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO) in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. She previously held postdoctoral and research associate positions at IADO, consolidating her expertise in marine and estuarine chemistry.
Her research addresses chemical pollution in transitional, coastal, and continental shelf ecosystems, with an emphasis on the occurrence, transport, and interactions of microplastics and heavy metals in estuaries, coastal waters, and the Southwestern Atlantic shelf, primarily in Argentina. She investigates how these contaminants affect planktonic and benthic organisms, trophic interactions, and ecosystem functioning, with implications for biodiversity.
Dr. Fernández Severini has contributed to multiple interdisciplinary projects on marine pollution in Argentina and abroad, co-authoring numerous scientific papers. She also participates in national and international field campaigns, combining in situ sampling with laboratory analyses to better understand emerging contaminants in the ocean.
She earned her Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Biology from the Universidad Nacional del Sur and CONICET in Argentina. The Falkor (too) expedition Life in Extremes will be her first cruise with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, where she will serve as Co-Principal Investigator, assisting in sampling activities and contributing to onboard analyses of deep-sea ecosystems.
Cruises:
