Margherita Penna

Margherita is a PhD candidate in the department of Environmental Geography of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Biology at the University of Turin (Italy) and continued there with the Master Environmental Biology. During her master’s thesis, which was developed under the GLORIA (GLobal Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments) Project she studied the arthropod and vegetation communities in high alpine sites in the NW-Italian Alps to assess how the structure and composition of these communities are interconnected and their relationship with the environmental matrix in the context of climate change. After her master’s, she participated in the SUSWINE project, studying arthropod communities in vineyards and their potential role in carrying beneficial yeasts for the wine production process.

Currently, her PhD research focusses on studying the role of forest rewilding in Europe and its possible contribution in achieving climate and biodiversity targets. She will use a scenario-based approach to simulate land use change in Europe and assess possible trade-offs and benefits of rewilding. Her work is part of the WILDCARD project for Europe, funded under the call HORIZON-CL5-2022-D1-02.

Expertise

Mountain ecology, Ecosystem dynamics, Alpine flora and alpine arthropods communities.

Education

2023: MSc Environmental Biology, UNITO.

2020: BSc Biology, UNITO.

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