Wants to make a difference
Growing up in the Italian town of Cremona, Stefano Bonaglia showed an early interest in environmental science. Today, he is an associate professor of marine biogeochemistry, studying pollution in coastal seas.
“Coming from one of the most polluted places in Europe made me want to make a difference,” he says.
IT’S BEEN QUITE a while since Stefano Bonaglia left Italy. Fourteen years ago, to be precise, when he began his third-cycle education programme in Stockholm. The contrasts between the small town in northern Italy and the Nordic capital city were both dramatic and varied. Not least when it came to his research field – nutrient cycles and water pollution.
You became an environmental scientist because of your hometown in Italy. Tell us more!
“My hometown of Cremona is a very beautiful place. It’s rich in culture, the weather is good, and so is the food. But the environment there leaves a lot to be desired. There are high levels of contaminants in the soil, the water and the air. I wish they could control emissions better from traffic, industry and livestock farming in particular. But the change processes take too long.
There are so many places on our planet that have been contaminated, and the main reason why I chose environmental science and biogeochemistry was because I wanted to try working for a better world.”
Why Sweden?
“At that time, it was hard to get a doctoral student position in Italy, so my choices were the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden. Sweden and Stockholm were the most appealing – it’s such a beautiful city, with water everywhere, incredible architecture and a wealth of culture. I was also impressed by the level of research. Sweden’s low emissions and its sharp focus on environmental issues make it one of the few countries I would consider living in.
Since then, I’ve spent time in Lund, Odense in Denmark and even New Zealand before ending up here in Gothenburg.”
You teach and you carry out research. Which do you prefer?
“A few years ago, I would have said research. But I think that teaching is becoming more and more interesting. I’ve been lucky enough to receive research grants to employ postdoctors and doctoral students, and by supervising and collaborating with them, we carry out research. I teach them things, but they also teach me things. Next week, for example, I’m going out on the research vessel Skagerak. This is part of the teaching, but I’ll have highly competent master’s students with me, so we will definitely be carrying out basic research. But I suppose the answer is that I prefer teaching at a higher level, because then it’s both teaching and research at the same time.”
What does your research involve?
“My research deals with nutrients and greenhouse gases, and how they are changed by human impact. In one of my projects we’re looking at marine aquaculture, which is becoming increasingly common in Sweden. Here, we’re investigating issues such as how mussel farming affects greenhouse gas emissions. In another project, we’re investigating fjords in locations including Sweden, Norway and Iceland, and how they are affected by climate change and eutrophication, for example.”
Do your results bring hope for the future, or should we be concerned?
“There are a few things that we should really be concerned about. Together with researchers from Stockholm, we’ve shown that shallow coastal areas with brackish waters are a major source of methane gas emissions to the atmosphere. It has also been shown that methane gas emissions have a greater impact on the climate than the ability to store carbon dioxide in these areas. This means that the more we pollute and over-fertilise the environment, the more greenhouse gases we may be adding to the atmosphere.
Another source of concern is that in another project with researchers from Denmark, we’ve found PCB contamination in the Atacama Trench, a deep-sea trench in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. This persistent and highly toxic contaminant is thus found in sediment at depths of up to eight kilometres, and if it’s there, it’ll be everywhere in the ocean.
But at the same time, there’s also good reason to be hopeful. A large proportion of the Earth – seventy percent – is covered by sediment, most of which is on the seabed. Sediment is our largest carbon store, and the water column above it acts as a buffer between what happens in the sediment and the surface of the water, such as breaking down methane that is released from the seabed. So in summary, our planet is strong and resilient, while at the same time we are having a negative impact on it. And we still have a lot left to discover.”
Text: Camilla Persson
Photo: Malin Arnesson
Work: Associate professor in marine biogeochemistry.
Age: 40.
Family: Partner and 2½-year-old son.
Leisure interests: Swimming and spending time in nature. “And I’ve also become something of a pizzaiolo. Making a good Neapolitan pizza isn’t particularly difficult. You just need a few good tools and to think about the science behind it.
