The Department of Earth and Marine Sciences (DiSTeM) is an interdisciplinary department that carries out research, teaching and third mission activities in the fields of earth, natural and environmental sciences, focusing on theoretical foundations, experimentation and analysis of environmental problems and systems, development of methodologies for environmental planning and management and application of modern technologies for the assessment and mitigation of the impacts exerted by human activities. In this context, DiSTeM coordinates, with an interdisciplinary approach, research activities aimed at studying environmental processes and problems in the framework of sustainable development.
The DiSTeM includes 47 professors and researchers belonging to 21 Scientific Discipline Sectors and five Areas (3, 4, 5, 7 and 13) set by the National University Council, 17 technical and administrative staff and numerous research assistants, doctoral students and scholarship holders.
Professors and researchers coordinate and participate in national and international projects, also through their association to inter-university consortia and international research networks, as well as European clusters and platforms, in the following specific fields: marine geology, volcanology, geochemistry, petrography, sedimentology, paleontology, geomorphology, stratigraphic geology, structural geology, applied geology, mineralogy, mineral georesources and mineralogical-petrographic applications for the environment and cultural heritage, applied geophysics, chemistry, analytical and environmental chemistry, botany and environmental botany, zoology, marine ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture, marine biotechnology. They also have extensive experience in technology transfer actions towards small and medium-sized enterprises, both national and international.
The DiSTeM is organised in several laboratories distributed in two locations (Via Archirafi and VialedelleScienze). It also owns the research vessel "Antonino Borzì" (16 m), which operates at Mediterranean level in a depth range from 0 to 100 m and is equipped with advanced instrumentation for the collection of high-resolution data and the identification of different morphologies of the seabed and benthic communities.
As far as teaching is concerned, the DiSTeM is responsible for degree courses (Geological Sciences, Nature and Environmental Sciences) and master's degree courses (Environmental Analysis and Management, Marine Biology, Nature Sciences, Geological Sciences and Technologies), as well as a PhD in Earth and Marine Sciences.
The DiSTeM also houses a Mineralogy Collection with minerals from the Sicilian gypsum-sulphur horizon and rare meteorites.
Historical outline
The DiSTeM was established on 1 January 2011 through the merging of the Department of Earth Chemistry and Physics and Applications to Georesources and Natural Risks (CFTA), the Department of Ecology (D.Eco.) and the Department of Geology and Geodesy. This merging gave rise to an interdisciplinary structure that combined research and teaching in highly interdependent fields such as ecology, geology, geochemistry and geophysics. An integrated abiotic-biotic approach is in fact requested in all scientific contexts in order to correctly analyse the effects of natural environmental and anthropogenic variability on biodiversity assets.