Claudio Ciofi

Biography

Claudio Ciofi graduated from the University of Florence in animal ecology and obtained an M.Sc. in Conservation Biology and a Ph.D. in Conservation Genetics from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. During his Ph.D. studies, Claudio set up administration and logistics for a conservation project in Komodo National Park, Indonesia, and developed molecular markers for population genetic studies at the Zoological Society of London, UK. He had two postdoctoral fellowships in the United States, at Smithsonian Institution and Yale University respectively. Claudio currently lectures in molecular ecology and population genetics at the University of Florence, Italy, where he set up a molecular genetic laboratory applied to the mangement and conservation of endangered species. He recently contributed to the development of the first laboratory of molecular genetics applied to wildlife studies in Indonesia in collaboration with the Indonesian Institute of Science. Main fields of research include patterns of colonization and dispersal in vertebrates, population structure, parentage analysis and population genomics for the study of components of individual fitness. Taxa currently studied are Komodo dragons in Indonesia, Galapagos giant tortoises, wolves, mustelids, sea turtles, pond turtles, dolphins, passeriforms of Central America and insects including carabrids, lepidopterans and ants.

Research Interest

Taxa currently studied are Komodo dragons in Indonesia, Galapagos giant tortoises, wolves, mustelids, sea turtles, pond turtles, dolphins, passeriforms of Central America and insects including carabrids, lepidopterans and ants.