University

11/2021 - present

Freie Universität Berlin – Ph.D. Earth Sciences

Topic: Subuannual variability in pH upregulation and biomineralization in less studied temperate (Mediterranean Cladocora caespitosa) and tropical (Caribbean Siderastrea siderea) corals in relation to environmental change.

09/2019 – 09/2021

Universitat de Barcelona – M.Sc. Oceanography and Marine Management

Thesis: Radiography of a coral: applying sclerochronology to study the endangered Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa and its response to warming.

09/2014 – 09/2018

Universitat de Barcelona – B.Sc. Biology with mention in biodiversity

Thesis: Weather and trade-offs between growth and reproduction regulate fruit production in European forests.

Practical research experiences

11/2018 – 06/2019

Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile – Coastal Station for Marine Investigation (ECIM)

Research assistant – Study of local marine invertebrate population’s response to fishing pressure in marine protected and open access areas, and on recruitment and connectivity over marine protected areas in order to improve conservation and sustainable management in central Chile.

04/2016 – 01/2017

Universitat de Barcelona – Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences

Study of trophic behavior in to fish species (Gambusia holbrooki and Aphanius iberus) and of biomass variations of edaphic macrofauna in response to environmental factors.

Areas of interest

• Environmental reconstructions
• Ocean acidification
• Sclerochronology

My research focuses mainly on the sub-annual variability in carbonate chemistry upregulation, in order to better understand the biomineralization processes of corals and their susceptibility to changes in their environment (specifically in terms of ocean temperature and acidification). I focus on temperate Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa and tropical Caribbean coral Siderastrea sidereal, in which I analyze geochemical proxies, mainly boron isotopes as well as growth and calcification rates.

Current projects

“Subuannual variability in pH upregulation and biomineralization in less studied temperate (Mediterranean Cladocora caespitosa) and tropical (Caribbean Siderastrea siderea) corals in relation to environmental change”. With Joan Pablo d’Olivo (FU Berlin) and Diego Kersting (University of Barcelona).

Vergotti, M. J., Fernández-Martínez, M., Kefauver, S. C., Janssens, I. A., & Peñuelas, J. (2019). Weather and trade-offs between growth and reproduction regulate fruit production in European forests. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 279, 107711.

Conference contribution

M. Vergotti, C. Linares, T. Brachert, J. Ll. Pretus, P. Spreter, & D.K. Kersting. X-Raying skeletons: reconstructing ecological and environmental information using Cladocora caespitosa corallites in a marine protected area. ISMS Symposium proceedings, Barcelona, SPAIN (July 1-3, 2020).