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Emilio Sperone is a zoologist and Associate Professor of Zoology at the University of Calabria (Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences). He currently serves as President of both the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Programs in Natural Sciences at the University of Calabria.
His research spans multiple areas of animal biology and conservation, with particular focus on amphibians, reptiles, and marine vertebrates—especially elasmobranchs, bony fishes, and cetaceans.
The laboratory coordinates research projects across the Mediterranean Basin, Mexico, South Africa, and Madagascar, employing a wide range of tools including visual surveys, drones, BRUVS, diet and isotope analyses, trace element accumulation, parasitology, photo-identification, faunistics, and biogeography.
Emilio is actively involved in international and national scientific bodies.
He is a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (Mediterranean region) and serves within the Italian National Scientific Committee for CITES, under the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE).
He is also the Coordinator of GRIS – the Italian Shark Research Group, a working group of the Italian Society of Marine Biology (SIBM).
He collaborates with numerous scientists and institutions worldwide, including:
Italy:
Marco Zuffi (University of Pisa), Claudia Corti (University of Florence), Primo Micarelli & Francesca Romana Reinero (Centro Studi Squali), Letizia Marsili (University of Siena), Agostino Brusco (Riserve Naturali Regionali “Tarsia–Crati”), Annalisa Zaccaroni & Fausto Tinti (University of Bologna), Vita Gancitano (CNR Mazara del Vallo), Massimiliano Bottaro (Stazione Zoologica “A. Dohrn”), Sandra Imbrogno, Donatella Barca, Concetta Milazzo (University of Calabria), Cecilia Mancusi (ARPAT), Olga Mangoni & Francesco Bolinesi (University of Naples “Federico II”), Donato Giovannelli (University of Naples “Federico II”).
International:
Carlotta Barba & Emanuele Venanzi (Manta Diving, Madagascar),
Felipe Galván-Magaña & Edgar Eduardo Becerril-García (CICIMAR, Mexico),
Eduardo Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla (Pelagios Kakunjá A.C., Mexico),
Uwe Fritz (Museum für Tierkunde Dresden, Germany),
Claudia Junge (Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway).
Emilio serves as Associate Editor for The European Zoological Journal (IF 1.4) and Frontiers in Marine Science (IF 3.0).
He has been Guest Editor for the special issue “New Perspectives in Elasmobranch Research: From Biology to Management and Conservation” (The European Zoological Journal), and Associate Editor for Acta Herpetologica.
Beyond scientific research, the laboratory is deeply committed to public outreach and education. Its projects and discoveries have been featured in national newspapers, radio broadcasts, and television programs, contributing to public awareness of biodiversity and marine conservation.
