
Manuel Novillo
Dr Manuel Novillo is from the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences – Institute of Animal Diversity and Ecology, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Manuel’s project will enhance our understanding of the long-term impacts of fishing on an important species of fish on the Antarctic Peninsula. Titled ‘Frozen Clues: validating age and growth of an overexploited Antarctic fish through otolith microchemistry’, his project will examine the ear bones (known as otoliths) of an Antarctic fish called Gobionotothen gibberifrons, or the humped rockcod.
Manuel will use a powerful technique called otolith microchemistry for the analyses, the first time for this important fish species. Understanding the age and growth of fish is critical in measuring the effectiveness of conservation policies. This work fills a crucial gap in our understanding of how fishing pressure affects life-history traits in Antarctic fishes.
Manuel will be joining an expert team at the Institute of Polar Sciences and the Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology of the Italian National Research Council in Ancona, Italy. There, he will have access to the sample of humped rockcod otoliths and will receive training on cutting-edge ageing techniques. The methods and skills he will learn will enable him to continue his research on other species.