Graduated in Geological Sciences, she is Full Professor at the “Ardito Desio” Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Milan. Winner of the prestigious Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal 2022, the medal established by the "Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Paleontology" division of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), she coordinated national and international research projects. We are talking about Professor Elisabetta Erba, an expert in calcareous nannofossils through which it is possible to define the age of rocks and also to reconstruct, over geological time, the characteristics of the oceans such as temperature, fertility and salinity of surface waters. Guest of our virtual living room, Professor Erba told us about her professional career and her passion for Earth sciences.
Professor, when was your curiosity about science born in you?
Since I was a child! I have always had a strong curiosity about the surrounding environment. At the time, my parents had a house on Lake Como where we spent the summer every year, from which we could see the Grigne mountain massif. I was extremely fascinated by these mountains, I observed them for a long time wondering how they were born and what the "secrets" of that suggestive natural landscape were.
What were the main stages of your study and professional career at the University of Milan?
I attended the course in Geological Sciences and during the last year I conducted the degree thesis with Professor Isabella Premoli Silva, through whom I also had the opportunity to work during a core drilling in the Marche region. I was thus able to study a group of microfossils called calcareous nannofossils, through which I dated rocks dating back to the Lower Cretaceous. Nannofossils are the remains of phytoplankton algae that have populated the oceans for at least 200 million years, from the equator to the polar zones. Appearing in the Triassic, once dead they fall to the seabed in the form of white powder, composed of calcite, becoming sediments and marine sedimentary rocks.
The use of these nannofossils is twofold: through their study, in fact, it is possible to define the age of the rocks and also to reconstruct, over geological time, the characteristics of the oceans such as temperature, fertility and salinity of the surface waters.
During my PhD I carried out research in this field, in fact I was the only one dealing with calcareous nannofossils at the University of Milan, where I became an associate professor in 2000, after having been a researcher for a decade, and professor full professor in 2005 at the Department of Earth Sciences.
What was the most satisfying moment in your research?
One of the experiences that I remember with more pleasure was that of dating, using calcareous nannofossils, the oldest rocks recovered in the Pacific Ocean, dating back to the Jurassic. Subsequently, fascinated by the use of these very small fossils, I studied the climatic and oceanographic evolution on a global scale, which highlighted even more pronounced environmental perturbations compared to those we are experiencing now. Indeed, in the geological past, even extreme environmental changes have occurred, characterized by strong global warming and a greenhouse effect climate, linked to an excess of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere and in the oceans. For example, I have extensively studied global change due to a major magmatic event that occurred about 120 million years ago. Analyzing the nannosfossils in the numerous sections outcropping in Italy and Europe, but also recovered in wells drilled in the ocean floor, I was able to understand the resilience of the ocean ecosystem with respect to an environmental catastrophe, a result that can also be used to try to understand what is happening today and help formulate future scenarios.
You were awarded the prestigious Lamarck Medal 2022, what did this prestigious award mean to you?
When I received the e-mail informing me of the awarding of the prestigious award, I was amazed indeed, initially I had the doubt that it was spam! Then, verifying the sender, a European commission well known to all of us geologists, I was truly amazed: I had no idea that someone had proposed my candidacy.
For me it was an immense honor since it is an extremely prestigious recognition that also goes to the research group of the University of Milan. Furthermore, the professor with whom I graduated had obtained the Lamarck Medal a few years ago: being able to match her result was a further honor.
Can you tell us an anecdote about your professional career?
An episode that I still remember as if it were today dates back to my first participation in the international scientific drilling project of the oceans: the goal was the recovery of the oldest basalts of the current ocean basins.
On board the ship, which held about a hundred people, I knew no one. The work shifts were 12 hours and I worked in the paleontology laboratory from midnight to noon with a Japanese micropaleontologist and a German researcher.
It was the night of December 12, 1989, I woke up earlier than usual, around 23pm, because I knew there would be a full moon. I've always been fascinated by it, as a child I even risked getting hurt a lot: one evening I climbed a ladder that my mother had forgotten near the window and I threw myself to try and catch the beautiful full moon that shone in the black sky. Luckily the balcony cushioned the fall.
Well, that night I had woken up especially early to go and admire the full moon over the Pacific Ocean. After having observed it for a long time, I reached the laboratory where my very shy Japanese colleague approached me and said "I have to tell you one thing: we are drilling rocks from the Jurassic".
It was the first time, after 20 years of repeated attempts, that we had finally arrived at the oceanic crust of the Jurassic. It was a very strong emotion and we organized a "Jurassic Party" under the full moon to celebrate this exceptional event (to date it is the only well where the oldest oceanic crust has been reached). That beautiful moon had, in a sense, blessed this great geological achievement.
In your opinion, what are the strong and weak points of the research system in Italy?
The Italian university preparation is generally very good and the average Italian graduate, as well as the research doctorate, have often acquired a knowledge superior to many other colleagues from all over the world.
On the other hand, the problem with research in Italy is underfunding, especially for basic research. Unfortunately, there is no Italian funding agency, equivalent, for example, to the American National Science Foundation. So despite the excellent researchers, these are often forced to go abroad or have little means to be able to develop research.
Funding unfortunately does not increase, which instead happens with the requests to lead the projects. It follows that often, especially for those who have laboratories and scientific instruments to maintain, funding is insufficient.
Not having enough funds for research is an extremely serious problem, as it inhibits the country's development despite its enormous potential
What do you think of the current scientific communication on geological hazards?
I think that many steps forward have been made in recent years by many companies that also deal with the dissemination and dissemination of knowledge in the field of geo-hazards. However, sometimes it happens that there is a dispersion of energies. All universities and departments of earth sciences, in fact, organize initiatives, often multiplying the same type of information tenfold. In my opinion, this can disorient the citizen who sometimes does not understand the different ways of narrating science.
To this end, we geologists should act in synergy, concerting and organizing appointments to raise awareness of the causes and consequences, but also prevention, of geological risks.
Typically, geologists are called only following catastrophic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and hydrogeological instability, while it is necessary to start sensitizing the population before the events and in a systematic way, adapting the dissemination of knowledge to the type of public.
When I covered the role of President of the Italian Geological Society, one of my wishes was to introduce a few hours of geological education as early as elementary school, so as to convey to children the message that the related risks cannot be eliminated but it is possible to control them and , in part, to prevent them if the characteristics of the territory are known.
Following the earthquake in Amatrice I suffered a real cultural shock, due to the fact that no one, at that juncture, contacted the Italian Geological Society, the oldest and largest society we have in Italy in the field of geosciences. This event made me reflect on our responsibility as geologists and how often we are perceived as "transparent" by society. We must strive to disseminate geological knowledge and adapt our language to a wide audience that includes non-experts, while at the same time transmitting correct scientific concepts.
To conclude, what would you recommend to a girl / boy who would like to study geology?
I always maintain that you have to study something you like, you need passion.
When I enrolled at the University I had few ideas about geology, but I was very curious and determined to study to understand the "rocky landscapes".
It is a very complex science which is not limited to the description of mountains and plains and which requires knowledge of subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. Biology is also important, because many "geological objects" are the result of bio-geo-chemical cycles. So we need to work hard and study a lot in order to be able to develop models that allow us to understand, for example, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but also the birth and evolution of life.
I always say that we live on a rocky planet, that's why we can't not know the geology. Furthermore, it is not a discipline that can only be studied in books, one must go into the field, observe the rocks, sediments, minerals, fossils, volcanoes and earthquake products on the ground. Nature always reserves us wonderful and unexpected surprises that can be understood with the right elements.
In fact, geology is all around us and is part of our daily life, even if we are often not aware of it, starting with the salt we use to season food, which is in fact a rock. Come forward, geology awaits you!