Ana Cristina Cardoso is a marine biologist, with a ‘Licenciatura’ (long cycle degree) in marine biology and fisheries, and a Ph.D. in marine biology.

She has joined the European Commission, Joint Research Centre, in 1995 as a scientific officer. Since then, she has contributed and coordinated several institutional research and science-policy interface projects in the fields of freshwater, marine ecology and biodiversity. She has also participated in several EU-funded or other international and national research projects in these fields.

She is (co)author of >100 publications (>50 in peer-reviewed international journals). Current research interests include the assessment of alien invasive species and their impacts on natural ecosystems. She was involved in EASIN conceptual design and she is responsible for its coordination.

Eugenio graduated in Agricultural Sciences, and specialized in entomology, phytopathology, Integrated Pest Management and biological control of pests. 

He worked 15 years at the Lombardy Plant Protection Service (Northern Italy), where he was in charge of the diagnostic labs. He has specific experience in ornamental nursery plants, floriculture, forest and urban forestry protection. He coordinated applied research concerning pests and their biological control in glasshouses, nurseries and in the natural environment, as well as surveys and contingency plans for quarantine pests.

In 2003, he joined the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) Directorate of DG SANTE in Grange (Ireland), where he carried out audits on national plant health control systems, and coordinated dossiers concerning Member States' national surveys for agriculture, forest and environment quarantine organisms.

He joined the EASIN Team in December 2014, where he is in charge of coordinating the Editorial Board, Citizen Science activities and communication.

Chiara is a freshwater and marine ecologist with interests on macroecology, species distribution modelling, biodiversity patterns and conservation. She has worked on both marine and freshwater species, and multidisciplinary approaches to explain their interactions with the environment.

After a period as a trainee in 2019, she re-joined the Joint Research Centre as an external consultant and now the EASIN team in the ‘Alien Species Monitoring to Protect European Nature’ project. She is working on revising and analysing invasive alien species distribution in Europe to prioritize their risk assessments and predict their responses to pressures.

Ivan is a data specialist and senior analystfrom Bosa in Sardinia, Italy.

He holds a Computer Science degree from the University of Cagliari and he has 15 years of work experience as data expert on international projects collaborating with multicultural teams.

Ivan joined the JRC and the EASIN team in 2012, where he is responsible of the data architecture, processing and analysis of the EASIN integrated platform.

Gemechis achieved his MSc in Computer Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. During his studies, he developed in particular his capabilities on Advanced Database & Software Engineering, Mobile Application, Big Data, Geographic Information System (GIS), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and related topics.

From 2009 to 2012, he worked at Jimma University, Ethiopia, where he obtained his BSc in computer science. He developed different software applications, to support learning and teaching processes, research, and administrative activities of this University.

Gemechis joined the EASIN Team as a trainee in February 2016 contributing to the upgrade of the EASIN web site.

He was also involved in other JRC projects, such as the preparation of a European Atlas of the Seas (MARATLAS), in the implementation of the MSFD Competence Centre (MCC), the Environmental Marine Information System (EMIS), and the Global Marine Information System (GMIS).  

Gemechis is teaming with the EASIN Data Manager and IT Architect to improve the quality of services EASIN can provide to users.

Beatrice Melone achieved her MSc in Natural Science at La Sapienza University of Rome in 2020.

During her studies, she focused on alien species, in particular on effect of intrinsic traits and environment on the colonization of alien mammals in the world. Her areas of interests are mammals ecology, wildlife management and conservation.

She joined the Joint Research Center in 2021 as an external consultant, working on updating the Species Catalogue for new emerging invasive alien species (IAS). In 2022 she also start working on citizen science and the development of the communication strategy of EASIN.

Aida received her Bachelor degree in Biology by the University of Oviedo in 2019 and her master in Ecosystem Services by the Technical University of Dresden in 2023. She has focused her bachelor and master thesis on wetland ecology and of ecosystem services of wetlands. Her areas of interest are applied ecology, social-ecological systems and participatory approaches. Aida is an EASIN trainee since October 2023. She is supporting the EASIN Team and her main tasks concern the assessment of socio-economic impacts from IAS and their relation to policy sectors.