New Member ! Serena Flori

Serena is a marine scientist with a particular interest in phytoplankton acclimation to environmental stress. She has worked in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Japan in an attempt to acquire multidisciplinary knowledge useful for a young scientist. Her expertise are ranging from fluorescence imaging measurements to collection of environmental samples, from biochemical analysis to confocal and light microscopy. Recently she developed an interest into innovative cryo-techniques like cryo-FIB-SEM and cryo-ET and willing to learn more.

In the frame of the ERC ChloroMito, Serena will investigate the structural bases of the efficient light use in several phytoplanktonic model species to better understand how energy is carefully balanced between the chloroplast (the most sophisticated light-harvesting system in nature) and mitochondria (the powerhouses of the cell). This project represents an original approach that allows, by combining physiological and 3D cellular/subcellular imaging studies, to acquire new insights into light acclimation of microalgae.