ANTONELLA PETRUZZELLA

ABOUT ME

Hi, thanks for stopping by.

My name is Antonella Petruzzella, and I'm an aquatic ecologist. This is my personal website, where you can learn more about me, my research trajectory, and my interests.

​​​

I'm fascinated by the resilience of freshwater ecosystems and their ability to recover from human disturbances. My research focuses on understanding how freshwater biodiversity, ecosystem structure, function, and services recover following anthropogenic stressors (e.g. plant invasions, eutrophication). I am particularly interested in uncovering the ecological mechanisms that guide more effective management and restoration of freshwater ecosystems, their biodiversity, and the ecosystem services they provide. To address these questions, I use a combination of controlled experiments, field surveys, and modelling approaches.

​

I’ve recently completed a postdoctoral position at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, Germany, where I'm currently based.

​

I have always wanted to be a scientist. I joined the Laboratory of Limnology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, during the first year of my Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences. During my undergraduate studies, I became interested in methane and CO₂ dynamics and the factors controlling them in tropical coastal lagoons. Because aquatic plants play an important role in these processes, I often found myself working in the middle of dense plant stands in the field. It was there that I asked the question that drove my Master’s research: “Does herbivore damage increase methane emissions from emergent aquatic plants?” This study provided new insights into the role of herbivory in carbon cycling. During my Master’s, I also worked as a research assistant in the Amazon, further expanding my knowledge of freshwater ecology and aquatic plants.

For my PhD, I moved to the Netherlands to work at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). My doctoral research focused on improving our understanding of the biotic mechanisms (e.g. competition and herbivory) underlying the establishment success of alien aquatic plants in tropical and temperate ecosystems. Much of invasion ecology theory has been developed in terrestrial systems, with relatively few studies addressing freshwater ecosystems. My research contributed to filling this gap by testing key invasion ecology hypotheses in freshwater systems.

From 2019 to 2023, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Biological Control (CBC), Rhodes University, in South Africa. This experience was transformative, both professionally and personally, and deeply shaped my perspective on ecology and its real-world applications.

​

I also love travelling, camping, rock climbing, hiking, running, mountain biking, cooking, and so on...

I'm in love with life, science, aquatic plants, and good beer.