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WHEN SCIENTIST GO UNDER THE WATER- Home
- Participants
- Advisory Board
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board will be verifying the content of the events in order to prevent the violation of any intellectual property rights arising from the use of any deliverables from the past EU reference projects.
The Advisory Board will also provide feedback to reach the targets of the SCIENCEinBLUE project. Board members are also invited to take part in person or via virtual presence in the Researcher Nights. They are also expected to contribute to the communication activities.
The Advisory Board Members
Dilek Çapanoğlu
She participated in the Istanbul Aquarium project during the construction phase. The aquarium is the first of its kind in Turkey and has the status of a national aquarium.
During this period, she carried out field studies with international consultants and took an active role in many studies such as the construction, architecture and thematization processes of the aquarium facility, as well as the commissioning of the facility, including live transfers, using domestic and international resources, and establishing the business-management-organization chain. Çapanoğlu, who was appointed as the general coordinator of the aquarium in 2012, took on the administrative management of the aquarium's general management as well as corporate communication, sales-marketing, strategic planning and business development processes. She developed many social responsibility projects.
In addition to the Istanbul Aquarium management, it also periodically incorporated international exhibitions and events into the facility and opened the Istanbul Aquarium Science Center to visitors. With the completion of the Istanbul Aquarium Complex project (Aqua Florya AVM, Crowne Plaza Istanbul - Florya Hotel), she was appointed as a member of the executive board in 2015.
Dilek Çapanoğlu, one of Turkey's most important mixed-use projects, which has turned into one of the leading tourism destinations; He continues his career as Co-CEO / Board Member at Aqua Florya AVM, Istanbul Akvaryum and Crowne Plaza Istanbul Florya. After her undergraduate education, she completed the MBA program at Bilgi University and the Master's Degree in Marketing Communication Management at Galatasaray University.
Istanbul Aquarium and Education
Istanbul Aquarium hosts nearly 1.5 million visitors annually, both from Turkey and abroad. Especially through school-organized trips, numerous students have the opportunity to discover marine life. With geographical themes and interactive educational content within the aquarium, the aim is to raise children's awareness of a "life-centered environment" from a young age. In line with this, an exhibition titled "The Work of Humanity" has been created within the aquarium, featuring waste collected from the Sea of Marmara to raise awareness about keeping the seas clean.
As a marine life treatment, care, and rehabilitation center, Istanbul Aquarium has treated many marine creatures, particularly sea turtles, to date.
Under its endangered species conservation program, Istanbul Aquarium has protected several species listed on the IUCN Red List. Species such as the sand tiger shark, Nassau grouper, dusky grouper, giant guitarfish, eagle ray, common shovelnose ray, cow-nose ray, brown-spotted catshark, small-spotted catshark, rays, gentoo penguins, and sturgeon are included in special protection programs aimed at ensuring the continuation of their species. All these efforts are carried out according to the international standards set by WAZA, of which Istanbul Aquarium is a member.
Recently, Istanbul Aquarium has supported several educational initiatives, including the sponsorship of the book "Marine Life," which is the most comprehensive resource on Turkey’s marine species, featuring 232 species and over 600 photographs covering the Mediterranean, Aegean, Black Sea, and Marmara. The aquarium is also the main sponsor of the Team NF Robotics Club, further supporting education through various dimensions.
Benedetta Castagna
Benedetta Castagna is an engineer who graduated from the faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the Università Politecnica delle Marche. She is a Research Fellow at Università Politecnica delle Marche in the Department of Information Engineering where she covers the role of EU Project Manager. From 2019 she is a Ph.D. student at the Kent School of Architecture and Planning, University of Kent. Her international profile combines the disciplinary and cultural experiences acquired at three universities in Italy, England and Spain.
Giacomo Fiara
With a background in Electronic Engineering and a deep interest in robotics, IoT, and the startup ecosystem since high school, Giacomo is currently pursuing a Master's in Management Engineering to broaden and integrate his expertise in an increasingly interdisciplinary manner. At just 21 years old, he cofounded the startup ANcybernetics. This journey has continually enhanced his skills through participation in various events and training courses.
Marco Bibuli
Marco Bibuli received his Master degree in Information Technology engineering at the University of Genoa (Italy) in 2005. Since the same year, he joined the National Research Council of Italy, focusing his research activity on the design and development of navigation, guidance and control algorithms for autonomous marine vehicles and software architectures for supervision and mission control. In 2010 he obtained the PhD degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering, Robotics and Telecommunications. He is co-author of more than one hundred international journal and conference publications. He is responsible of various National and European research projects and he participated in many experimental missions and campaigns.
Carlo Cerrano
Full Professor of Zoology focusing his research on marine zoobenthos diversity, biology, and ecology, mainly on Porifera and Cnidaria. Applying scientific diving techniques down to the mesophotic zone his studies assess the effect of climate change both at species and community levels. Results are incorporated often in a frame of conservation, management, and restoration of marine coastal ecosystems. Part of his research activity includes collaborations with volunteers trained in marine citizen science projects.
Frauke Tillmans
Dr. Frauke Tillmans is the Research Director at Divers Alert Network (DAN), adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a visiting scientist at the University of California, San Diego. She holds a degree in Neuroscience, and a PhD in Human Biology. Dr. Tillmans is an avid diver and dive instructor with several training organizations with experience in technical, rebreather, scientific, and public safety diving. At DAN, she oversees research initiatives in diving injury and fatality monitoring, population health, and diving physiology including acute diving injuries as well as long-term health effects of extreme exposures. Throughout her career she has participated in numerous multi-national projects covering a variety of medical aspects in recreational, professional, and military diving. Starting in 2019 when she left a position at the German Naval Medical Institute to relocate to the United States, she has become DAN’s point of contact for global scientific collaborations and is in charge of DAN’s research grant program and STEM-focused internship program, inspiring young scientists and prospective physicians to pursue a career in diving and hyperbaric medicine.