MICHELA PACIFICI

WORK EXPERIENCE
15/04/2025 – current Roma, Italy
TENURE TRACK RESEARCHER SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
22/12/2021 – 21/12/2024 Roma, Italy
RESEARCH FELLOW SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
01/07/2021 – 21/12/2021 Roma, Italy
POSTDOC ON THE PROJECT "INSPIRE4NATURE" SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
01/07/2020 – 30/06/2021 Roma, Italy
BE-FOR-ERC RESEARCH FELLOW ON THE PROJECT "ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT ON THE MAMMALIAN
CLIMATIC NICHE" SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
01/02/2018 – 30/06/2020 Roma, Italy
POSTDOC ON THE PROJECT "ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS EXPLAIN RECENT
IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SPECIES" SAPIENZA UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA
01/10/2018 – 30/09/2019 Bologna, Italy
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR ALMA MATER STUDIORUM UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA
Course "Animal Diversity and Distribution in a Changing Climate" for the master in "Global Change Ecology and
Sustainable Development Goals"
01/07/2017 – 31/07/2017 Melbourne, Australia
VISITING ACADEMIC ARC CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
01/06/2017 – 30/06/2017 Brisbane, Australia
VISITING ACADEMIC CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
04/04/2016 – 30/06/2016 Roma, Italy
ZOOLOGY CONSULTANT ON THE PROJECT “DEFINING AND APPLYING THE CONCEPT OF FAVOURABLE
REFERENCE VALUES FOR SPECIES AND HABITATS UNDER THE EU BIRDS AND HABITATS DIRECTIVES”
ISTITUTO DI ECOLOGIA APPLICATA
01/12/2015 – 15/02/2018 Tirane/Rome, Albania
ZOOLOGIST FOR THE PROJECT "NATURAL" SOCIETÀ BOTANICA ITALIANA ONLUS
01/05/2014 – 31/05/2014 Roma, Italy
ZOOLOGY CONSULTANT FOR THE PROJECT "DEVELOPING RED LIST INDICES FOR THE CRITICAL
ECOSYSTEM PARTNERSHIP FUND" ISTITUTO DI ECOLOGIA APPLICATA
01/01/2014 – 01/01/2015 Roma, Italy
ZOOLOGY CONSULTANT FOR THE PROJECT "BIOSCORE 2.0: A SPECIES-BY-SPECIES MODEL TO ASSESS
ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACTS ON TERRESTRIAL BIODIVERSITY IN EUROPE"01/06/2013 – 01/04/2018 Roma, Italy
COORDINATOR OF 2 MAMMAL SPECIALIST GROUPS FOR THE IUCN RED LIST GLOBAL MAMMAL
ASSESSMENT
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
01/11/2012 – 16/03/2016 Roma, Italy
PHD IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, CURRICULUM ANIMAL BIOLOGY Sapienza
Università di Roma
Thesis Effects of climate change on the extinction risk of species
01/10/2010 – 11/07/2012 Roma, Italy
MASTER IN CONSERVATION ADN DISSEMINATION OF NATURE, FINAL MARK 110/110 CUM LAUDE
Sapienza Università di Roma
Field of study Scienze e tecnologie della vita
01/10/2005 – 20/07/2010 Roma, Italy
BACHELOR IN NATURAL SCIENCES, FINAL MARK 107/110 Sapienza Università di Roma
01/09/2000 – 07/07/2005 Roma, Italy
LINGUISTIC HIGH SCHOOL, FINAL MARK 100/100 Liceo Maria Montessori
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Mother tongue(s):
ITALIAN
Other language(s):
UNDERSTANDING
SPEAKING
WRITING
ListeningReading
Spoken production Spoken interaction
ENGLISHC2C2C2C2C2
SPANISHB2B2B1B1B1
GERMANA2A2A2A2A2
Levels: A1 and A2: Basic user; B1 and B2: Independent user; C1 and C2: Proficient user
DIGITAL SKILLS
Linux Ubuntu, libre office
R (Statistics)
R, R Studio
Software GIS (QGIS, ArcGIS)
GRASS GIS Scripting
bash MARXAN Microsoft Office
Social Network (Facebook Linkedin Instagram Twitter)
Windows
Species
Distribution Models (SDMs)
IUCN Species Information Service (SIS)
PUBLICATIONS
2024
Davoli, M.,Kuemmerle, T.,Monsarrat, S., Crees, J., Cristiano, C., Pacifici, M. & Svenning, J.-C. Recent
sociocultural changes reverse the long-term trend of declining habitat availability for wild large
mammals in Europe
Accepted
Diversity and Distributions
2024
Nania, D., Ficetola, G.F., Falaschi, M., Pacifici, M., Lumbierres, M. & Rondinini, C. A systematic
approach for scoping potential Key Biodiversity AreasAccepted
Conservation Science and Practice
2024
Vincent, C., [...], Pacifici, M., et al. The war in Ukraine is changing plausible future socioeconomic
scenarios leading to an unexplored outlook for biodiversity
Accepted
Conservation Science and Practice
2024
Cazzolla Gatti, R., [...], Pacifici, M., et al. EU2030 biodiversity strategy: Unveiling gaps in the coverage
of ecoregions and threatened species within the strictly protected areas of Italy
Journal for Nature Conservation
2024
Nania, D., Mei, M., Pacifici, M., et al. Insects as indicators of Key Biodiversity Areas
Insect Conservation and Diversity
2023
Pacifici et al. Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: unravelling the role of livestock,
land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years
Write here the description...
Global Change Biology
2024
Cazalis, V., [...], Pacifici, M., et al. Prioritizing the reassessment of data-deficient species on the IUCN
Red List
Write here the description...
Conservation Biology
2023
Froidevaux, J.S.P., [...}, Pacifici, M. et al. A species-level trait dataset of bats in Europe and beyond
Scientific Data
Mancini, G., Benítez-López, A., Di Marco, M., Pacifici, M., Rondinini, C., & Santini, L. Synergistic effects
of habitat fragmentation and hunting on the extinction risk of neotropical primates.
Biodiversity and Conservation
2023
Cuadros Casanova, I., [...}, Pacifici, M. et al. Opportunities and challenges for Common Agricultural
Policy reform to support the European Green Deal
Conservation Biology
2022
Festa, F., Lancillotto, L., Santini, L., Pacifici., M. et al. (2022) Bat responses to climate change: a
systematic review
Biological Reviews
2022
Nania, D., Lumbierres, M., Ficetola, F., Falaschi, M., Pacifici, M., Rondinini, C. (2022) Maps of area of
habitat for Italian amphibians and reptiles
Nature Conservation2022
Cazalis, V., di Marco, M., Butchart, S. H. M., Akçakaya, H. R., González-Suárez, M., Meyer, C.,
Clausnitzer, V., Böhm, M., Zizka, A., Cardoso, P., Schipper, A. M., Bachman, S. P., Young, B. E.,
Hoffmann, M., Benítez-López, A., Lucas, P. M., Pettorelli, N., Patoine, G., Pacifici, M., … Santini, L.
(2022). Bridging the research-implementation gap in IUCN Red List assessments.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
2021
Di Marco, M., Pacifici, M., Maiorano, L., Rondinini, C. Drivers of change in the realised climatic niche
of terrestrial mammals.
Ecography
2021
Mair, L., […], Pacifici, M. et al. Measuring spatially-explicit contributions to science-based species
targets.
Nature Ecology & Evolution
2021
Soria, C., Pacifici, M., Di Marco, M., Stephen, S.M., Rondinini, C. COMBINE: A Coalesced Mammal
Database of Intrinsic and Extrinsic traits.
Ecology
2020
Pacifici, M., Di Marco, M., Watson, J.E.M. Protected areas are now the last strongholds for many
imperiled mammal species.
Conservation Letters
2020
Pacifici, M., Rondinini, C., Rhodes, J. R., Burbidge, A. A., Cristiano, A., Watson, J. E., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Di
Marco, M. Global correlates of range contractions and expansions in terrestrial mammals.
Nature Communications
2020
Baisero, D. Visconti, P., Pacifici, M., Cimatti, M., Rondinini, C. Projected global loss of mammal habitat
due to land-use and climate change.
ONE EARTH
2020
Zhang, L., Pacifici, M., Li, B., Gibson, L. Drought vulnerability among China's ungulates and mitigation
offered by protected areas.
Conservation Science and Practice
2019
Foden, W. B., Young, B. E., Akçakaya, H. R., Garcia, R. A., Hoffmann, A. A., Stein, B. A., Thomas, C. D.,
Wheatley, C. J., Bickford, D., Carr, J. A., Hole, D. G., Martin, T. G., Pacifici, M., Pierce-Higgins, J. W.,
Platts, P. J., Visconti, P., Watson, J. E. M., Huntley, B. Climate change vulnerability assessment of
species.
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change2019
Pacifici, M., Cristiano, A., Burbidge, A. A., Woinarski, J. C., Di Marco, M., Rondinini, C. Geographic
distribution ranges of terrestrial mammal species in the 1970s.
Ecology
2018
Pacifici ,M., Attorre, F., Martellos, S., Bego, F., De Sanctis, M., Hoda, P., Meço, M., Rondinini, C.,
Saçdanaku, E., Salihaj, E., Scepi, E., Shuka, L., Ghiurghi, A. BioNNA: the Biodiversity National Network
of Albania.
Nature Conservation
2018
Bego, F., Saçdanaku, E., Pacifici, M., Rondinini, C. Small terrestrial mammals of Albania: distribution
and diversity (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Rodentia).
ZooKeys
2018
Pacifici, M., Visconti, P., and Rondinini, C. A framework for the identification of hotspots of climate
change risk for mammals.
Global Change Biology
2017
Pacifici, M., Visconti, P., Butchart, S.H.M., Watson, J.E.M., Cassola, F.M., and Rondinini, C. Species’
traits influenced their response to recent climate change.
Nature Climate Change
2016
Scheffers, B., De Meester, L., Hoffmann, A.A., Pandolfi, J., Corlett, R., Butchart, S., Pearce- Kelly, P.,
Kovacs, K., Dudgeon, D., Pacifici, M., Rondinini, C., Foden, W., Martin T., Mora, C., Bickford, D., Watson,
J. The broad footprint of climate change from genes to biomes to people.
Science
2015
Pacifici, M., Visconti, P., Scepi, E., Hausmann, A., Attorre, F., Grant, R., and Rondinini, C. Fire policy
optimization to maximize suitable habitat for locally rare species underdifferent climatic conditions:
A case study of antelopes in the Kruger National Park.
Biological Conservation
2015
Pacifici, M., Foden, W.B., Visconti, P., Watson, J.E.M., Butchart, S.H.M., Kovacs, K.M., Scheffers, B.R.,
Hole, D.G., Martin, T.G., Akçakaya, H.R., Corlett, R.T., Huntley, B., Bickford, D., Carr, J.A., Hoffmann,
A.A., Midgley, G.F., Pearce-Kelly, P., Pearson, R.G., Williams, S.E., Willis, S.G., Young, B. and Rondinini,
C. Assessing species vulnerability to climate change.
Nature Climate Change
2014
Budiharta, S. Meijaard, E., Erskine, P.D., Rondinini, C., Pacifici, M., Wilson, K.A. Restoring degraded
tropical forests for carbon and biodiversity.
Environmental Research Letters2013
Pacifici, M., Santini, L., Di Marco, M., Baisero, D., Francucci, L., Grottolo Marasini, G., Visconti, P., and
Rondinini, C. Generation length for mammals.
Nature Conservation
NETWORKS AND MEMBERSHIPS
2021 – CURRENT
President of the Society for Conservation Biology Italy Chapter APS
2012 – CURRENT
Member of the Society for Conservation Biology
2013 – CURRENT
Member of the Species Survival Commission Climate Change Specialist Group dell'International
Union for Conservation of Nature
2016 – CURRENT
Member of the Species Survival Commission Red List Committee dell'International Union for
Conservation of Nature
2014 – 2021
Member of the Italian Mammal Society (ATIt)
CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
17/06/2024 – 21/06/2024 Bologna (Italy)
7th European Congress of Conservation Biology
Chair of the Local Organizing Committe
23/07/2023 – 27/07/2023 Kigali (Rwanda)
31st International Congress of Conservation Biology
22/08/2022 – 26/08/2022 Prague (Czech Republic)
6th European Congress of Conservation Biology, co-chair of the Scientific Committee
08/06/2022 – 11/06/2022 Cogne (Italy)
XII Congresso Italiano di Teriologia
Invited talk
22/10/2021 – 22/10/2021 Parco Nazionale del Pollino (Italy)
Half-earth day 2021 Facciamo a metà?Dividere il pianeta tra umanità e natura
Invited, Online workshop
09/07/2021 – 15/07/2021 Online
International Mammalogical Congress joint with American Society of Mammalogists Congress
16/02/2021 – 19/02/2021 Rome (Italy)
Grant writing and career perspectives in ecology and conservation science
Seminar for PhD students
19/02/2020 – 21/02/2020 Rome (Italy)
Career perspectives in ecology and conservation
Seminar for PhD students
10/02/2020 – 13/02/2020 Rome (Italy)
Scientific publicationsSeminar for PhD students
16/05/2018 – 18/05/2018 Frankfurt (Germany)
Global Biodiversity Modelling - ISIMIP/ISIPEDIA Biodiversity Sector Meeting
Workshop
07/05/2018 – 11/05/2018 Antananarivo (Madagascar)
Lemurs red-listing
Invited, Workshop
09/07/2017 – 14/07/2017 Perth (Australia)
12th International Mammalogical Congress
01/09/2016 – 10/09/2016 Honolulu (Hawaii, USA)
IUCN World Conservation Congress
20/04/2016 – 24/04/2016 Rome, Italy
African primate red-listing
Workshop
14/04/2016 – 15/04/2016 Wageningen (Netherlands)
Defining and applying the concept of Favourable Reference Values for species and habitats under
the EU Birds and Habitats Directives
Workshop
09/11/2015 – 14/11/2015 Singapore
Asian primate red-listing
Invited, Workshop
21/09/2015 – 25/09/2015 Roma
Ecology at the Interface
02/08/2015 – 06/08/2015 Montpellier (France)
27th International Congress of Conservation Biology
Student award competition finalist
25/01/2015 – 29/01/2015 Houston (Texas, USA)
Neotropical primate red-listing
Invited, Workshop
07/05/2014 – 10/05/2014 Civitella Alfedena (Italy)
IX Congresso Italiano di Teriologia
12/12/2013 – 14/12/2013 Cambridge (UK)
Climate change vulnerability assessment approaches
Workshop organizzato dall'IUCN SSC Climate Change Specialist Group
01/12/2013 – 05/12/2013 Rome (Italy)
Identification of thresholds for sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of
biodiversity
Workshop
03/03/2013 – 08/03/2013 Kruger National Park (South Africa)
11th Annual Savanna Science Networking Congress28/08/2012 – 01/09/2012 Glasgow (UK)
3rd European Congress of Conservation Biology
PROJECTS
02/2024 – 10/2025
Decommissioning of Enel carbon plants
Co-PI, funded by Enel Green Power, 20,000 EUR
2023 – 2025
Analysing the impact of global change on European insects through the lens of macroecology
Participant of the research group, Sapienza Research Funding, 45,340 EUR
07/2024 – 12/2024
Marine monitoring of habitats and species for the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment
Programme
Co-PI, Tender from ISPRA, 82,000 EUR
20/01/2023 – CURRENT
High-throughput multiscale imaging of fixed and live biological samples
Participant of the research group, Sapienza Funding, 669,800 EUR
01/04/2023 – 31/03/2026
GaP - Guiding expansion of protection under the EU Biodiversity Strategy: Threatened species and
novel methods for Key Biodiversity Area identification
Biodiversa + Project. PI for Sapienza.
22/12/2022 – 21/12/2024
Identifying synergies between Human Drivers of biodiversity loss
PI, Sapienza Research Funding, 10,000 EUR
2022 – 2026
NaturaConnect
Scientific coordinator for Sapienza uni, Horizon Europe project, 711,000 EUR
2022 – 2023
Biodiversità bene comune: conoscerla per difenderla e conservarla
PI, outreach project funded by Sapienza, 9975 EUR
2021 – 2024
ClimExp: Assessing species' exposure to climate change to support extinction risk assessments for
the IUCN Red List
Participant of the research group, Sapienza Research Funding, 14,800 EUR
2021 – 2022
Poaching evidence and effects on the distribution of mammals in the last 50 years
PI, Avvio alla Ricerca project funded by Sapienza, 3,200 EUR.
10/2020 – 10/2021
Anthropogenic Impact on the Climatic Niche of Mammals
PI, Avvio alla Ricerca project funded by Sapienza, 2,200 EUR.
01/07/2020 – 30/06/2021
AnIMalNICHEPI, BE-FOR-ERC project funded by Sapienza, 50,000 EUR.
10/2019 – 10/2020
Biodiversity scenarios for ecosystem services
Participant of the research group, Fondi di Ateneo Sapienza, 4,000 EUR.
10/2018 – 10/2019
Ecological and biological characteristics explain recent impacts of climate change on species
PI, Avvio alla Ricerca project funded by Sapienza, 4,000 EUR.
03/2019 – 2022
CLIMBATS
Participant of the research group, project funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST).
03/2018 – 2022
Inspire4Nature
Participant of the reseach group, PhD supervisor Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN) fproject funded
by the European Commission, 3,950,859.24 EUR (1,032,245.28 EUR to Sapienza).
06/2017 – 12/2019
Modeling landscape fragmentation and rural development as drivers of ranchers’ conflicts with wild
carnivores
Participant of the research group, project fo international cooperation funded by Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della
Cooperazione Internazionale (Italy), Direzione Generale della Cooperazione Internazionale del Ministero delle Relazioni
Esterne e Culto, and Direzione Nazionale di Cooperazione e Integrazione Istituzionale del Ministero della Scienza, Tecnologia e
Innovazione Produttiva (Argentina).
10/2015 – 11/2017
Defining and applying the concept of Favourable Reference Values for species and habitats under
the EU Birds and Habitats Directives
Participant of the research group, tender funded by the European Commission, 260,000 EUR.
10/2015 – 10/2016
Hotspots of mammal species at risk from climate change: the role of life history traits and external
pressures
Participant of the research group, Sapienza Research Funding, 9,000 EUR.
HONOURS AND AWARDS
12/06/2024
Bologna Ambassador – Bologna Welcome
Award for making the city of Bologna an important venue for exchanging scientific knowledge for the organization of
ECCB2024
05/12/2023
Italian Knowledge Leaders – Italian Meeting Industry
Award given to top scientists contributing to making Italy a Conference country
09/06/2021
SCB Europe Early Career Conservation Award 2021 – Society for Conservation Biology
Award for the best European Early Career Researcher in Conservation of Biodiversity
11/01/2020
BE-FOR-ERC fellowship – Sapienza Università di Roma
Fellowship for research project of excellence, 50000 EUR10/05/2017
Daikin Award for the Conservation of Biodiversity – Daikin Europe S.p.A.
Award for the best PhD thesis in Conservation of Biodiversity, 2000 EUR
06/02/2017
Visiting Fellowship Scheme program – Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for
Environmental Decisions (CEED)
Fellowship to visit Australian Research Centers and develop a common project, 3562 AUD
12/10/2015
Scholarship "The impact of climate changes on animal populations” – Associazione Teriologica
Italiana onlus
Scholarship for young members of the ATIt to attend the workshop "The impact of climate changes on animal
populations”
25/09/2015
Roberto Marchetti Award – Società Italiana di Ecologia
Award for the best presentation of a young researcher during the conference "Ecology at the Interface" 2015, 1000 EUR
02/08/2015
Finalist student award competition ICCB 2015 – Society for Conservation Biology
Among the 10 best abstracts among the >2000 received
02/08/2015
Travel grant – Society for Conservation Biology
Travel grant to attend the 2015 International and European Conference of Conservation Biology, 300 EUR
12/03/2013
Vitrociset award for master students – Vitrociset S.p.A.
Award for students that received the highest final mark during the master course
09/09/2005
Award for high school deserving students – Rome municipality
Award for students that received the highest final mark during the high school studies
EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE
01/2022 – CURRENT
Conservation Science and Practice
Associate editor
11/2020 – CURRENT
Nature Conservation Research
Handling editor