About Tosca Ballerini

The Science

My scientific career began with a Master's in Natural Sciences from the University of Florence, focused on macrofauna in mangrove ecosystems along the Mozambican coastline. My doctoral research then took me to Antarctica, where I developed population models for an Adelie penguin colony.

After completing my doctorate in 2007, I continued as an ecosystem modeller at American and French research institutions, developing ecosystem models for the Western Antarctic Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea. For a research institute, that means a scientific partner who has worked inside institutions like theirs and understands how they operate: peer review, funding cycles, the pace of research.

From 2017, I have led and coordinated seven citizen science projects on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean (for four of them, I wrote the grant proposals that were then funded), designing the scientific protocols, coordinating field surveys with volunteers, and writing peer-reviewed publications based on the data collected. For an NGO, that means a citizen science project designed for both goals: real community engagement and solid data for peer-reviewed publication.

My peer-reviewed publications and scientific reports are listed on the Publications page.

The Journalism

The journalism degree was a deliberate choice: a professional qualification to complement my scientific training, so that a project's research can be put into a form a wider audience can follow.

In 2014, I completed my training at ESJ-PRO Montpellier, specialising in print and online journalism. Since then, I have covered international and European environmental policy and negotiations for Italian media (the ocean economy, shipping emissions, the EU packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR), the global plastics treaty). For a project that needs to reach beyond the field, that means research written to newsroom standards, accurate and easy for a non-specialist to follow.

Languages

• English: advanced
• Italian: native
• French: advanced
• Spanish: intermediate

Field Experience

Antarctica: Doctoral fieldwork on Adelie penguin population dynamics. Remote field station research on the Antarctic coast.

Mozambique: Master's research on macrofauna ecology in mangrove ecosystems along the Mozambican coastline.

Mediterranean Sea: Almost a decade of plastic pollution citizen science — protocol design, field coordination, and training more than 100 citizen scientists across open sea, river, and shoreline: the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Adriatic seas, the Durance river, and the Tuscan coast.

At sea: Ten years sailing the Mediterranean, including an Atlantic crossing from the Canaries to the Caribbean with an all-female crew, and 105 days at sea on citizen science surveys. Certified as a merchant-navy deckhand on bridge watch and, in 2026, as a sailing instructor.