Jessica Pazzaglia
I am a passionate nature enthusiast who enjoys spending my free time engaging in outdoor activities such as climbing and photography. I hold a degree in Biological Sciences, with a scientific specialization in the Ecology of Global Change.
After a research period at the Oceanography Division of OGS, where I studied benthic marine communities, I began exploring the resilience of seagrass ecosystems—particularly Posidonia oceanica—to single and combined stressors such as temperature increases and eutrophication.
During my Ph.D., I investigated seagrass responses to environmental stress using multilevel approaches, integrating morphology, physiology, transcriptomics, and epigenetics.
Since 2022, I have been a National Geographic Explorer with the project SMEMORY – Seagrass Epigenetic Memory, which aims to uncover how stress memory mechanisms function in seagrasses and how these molecular signatures may be passed on to future generations.
Currently, my main scientific interest focuses on stress memory and its potential inheritance across plant generations. I study transcriptomic and DNA methylation profiles in both juvenile and adult plants. To this end, I conducted a mesocosm experiment using the priming technique—an approach widely adopted in terrestrial plant ecology.
Understanding the molecular basis of stress memory in seagrasses could offer valuable insights into their remarkable adaptive capacities and inform future strategies for the conservation and restoration of these vital marine ecosystems.
Learn more about my work:
