By Dr Simona Aracri
Permanent Researcher at the National Research Council of Italy
Dr Aracri is a Permanent Researcher at the National Research Council of Italy – Institute of Marine Engineering.
Previously Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Soft Systems Group, University of Edinburgh, working on the award winning project ORCA Hub and focussing on offshore robotic sensors. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture (University of Genoa, University of A Coruña, University of Trieste and Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), She also holds a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the National Oceanography Centre – University of Southampton. Her Ph.D. was sponsored by the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Marine Sciences, in Venice. She has spent more than 6 months at sea on oceanographic sampling campaigns, in the Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean and the North Sea.
Her research interests encompass: the application of robotics for observational oceanography and environmental monitoring. She is interested in the entire process of data collections, from the device design to the deployment setting and, ultimately, in the resulting data.
Innovative sensors and autonomous platforms need a cross disciplinary approach in order to thrive. New, sustainable, smart platforms can push the boundaries of observational oceanography, coastal management, offshore sites functioning and much more. Ground breaking technology can result in a new generation of data that can give us the needed insight to embrace a sustainable development and mitigate climate change.