DoctorGianluca Amoroso

As a Research Fellow in Aquaculture I conduct research at the Experimental Aquaculture Facility at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) (Taroona). I am particularly interested in the field of farmed Atlantic salmon growth performance as well as other biological and physiological aspects of the species

Biography

My scientific career path started in Italy, where I completed a BSc in Natural Sciences and a MSc in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology with focus on Aquaculture. At the end of 2012, after receiving an offer to undertake a PhD in Aquaculture at the University of Tasmania and then being awarded a University of Tasmania and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies “Tasmania graduate research scholarship”, I moved to Australia to begin a new journey. My PhD investigated the occurrence of skeletal deformities and their molecular mechanisms in triploid Atlantic salmon.

The molecular component of the project took place at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Queensland). A few months before being awarded my PhD on December 2016, I was employed as Aquaculture Scientist by Petuna Aquaculture, a salmon and trout producer in northern Tasmania, to design and run a $0.5 million Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) project in partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast. We investigated molecular mechanisms and genetic effect of flesh colour variation in Atlantic salmon as a result of warmer summer seawater temperatures.

The project produced critical novel results and led to the establishment of the Petuna Breeding Program which I coordinated for three years. At Petuna, I was also responsible for performance, welfare, and quality monitoring of freshwater stocks. After five years in the industry, where I had the opportunity to keep doing research and acquired a deep commercial knowledge of salmonids aquaculture, I joined UTAS to conduct research on salmon at the IMAS Experimental Aquaculture Facility

Achievements

Master's degree in Evolutionary biology and Ecology at University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' (Italy)
Thesis title 'Morphogenesis of sense organs of laboratory–reared Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) larvae and early juveniles'.
Bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences at University of Rome 'La Sapienza' (Italy)

Career summary

Qualifications
PhD Investigations of skeletal anomalies in triploid Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L. 1758) in freshwater with particular focus on lower jaw deformity (LJD) University of Tasmania Australia 2016
MSc Morphogenesis of sense organs of laboratory–reared Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) larvae and early juveniles University of Rome “Tor Vergata” Italy 2011
BSc University of Rome “La Sapienza” Italy 2009

Administrative expertise
I managed several commercial R&D projects during my experience in industry and an $0.5 million FRDC project with an academic partner. I coordinated for three years an Atlantic salmon and Rainbow trout commercial selective breeding program.