My name is Marco Donnini and I am a PhD geologist.

I took my University degree (“Laurea”) on Geological Sciences on March 2005 in the University of Perugia – Earth Sciences Department – Geochemistry Section (at the present named: Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia of Università di Perugia) with a thesis on geochemistry applied to gas hazard. The thesis title was “Hydrogeochemical study of the thermal springs of Bagni San Filippo (Castiglione d’Orcia, Siena): modelling of the system” and was in collaboration between Earth Sciences Department of Perugia University and National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV – Vesuvius Observatory, Napoli). The supervisor was Prof. Giovanni Chionini (Vesuvius Observatory – INGV, Napoli) and the co-supervisor was Dr. Carlo Cardellini (University of Perugia – Earth Sciences Department – Geochemistry Section). One of the object of the thesis was the study and the estimation of deep CO2 degassing from non-volcanic environment. For the thesis I performed several fieldworks during which I sampled the waters and the dissolved gas of the thermal springs of Bagni San Filippo (Central Italy) and moreover I performed several measurements of the soil CO2 fluxes with accumulation chamber instrument. The collected data were useful to perform several numerical simulation with TOUGH2 software.

After that, on November 2005, I had a contract with Perugia University for a study focused on soil CO2 degassing on background areas in Central Italy (Muravera – Cagliari, Sardinia). The Supervisor was Prof. Francesco Frondini (University of Perugia – Earth Sciences Department – Geochemistry section).

Between June 2006 and May 2008 I had a contract with Vesuvius Observatory – INGV (Napoli) as temporary researcher on the study: “Fluid geochemistry on hydrothermal and magmatic systems”. The supervisor was Prof. Giovanni Chiodini. During this experience I analysed more in deep the topics related to CO2 degassing both in volcanic (Vesuvius and Phlegrean Fields, Napoli) and non volcanic (Latera and Torre Alfina, Cimini – Volsini Complex) Italian areas performing several fieldworks focused on measurements of soil CO2 fluxes and on samplings of water and dissolved gas. Moreover during this experience I improved my skills on numerical simulations.

Between June and December 2009 I had a contract with University of Perugia – Earth Sciences Department – Geochemistry Section as temporary researcher on the study ”Hydrogeochemical study of Trasimeno Lake for a better understanding of the phenomena that influence the chemical and isotopic composition of the waters”. The aim of the work was the application of geochemical and isotopic methods for the study of the hydrological processes in Trasimeno Lake (Central Italy) with a focus on the CO2 and CH4 production by the degradation of organic matter in lacustrine environments.

After that, on December 2009 I started my PhD in Earth Sciences in collaboration between University of Perugia and CNR-IRPI (National Research Council – Research Institute for Hydrogeological Protection) of Perugia. The thesis title was “A study on the geochemical processes that control the production and the consumption of CO2 in Alpine region”, the supervisor was Prof. Francesco Frondini (University of Perugia – Earth Sciences Department – Geochemistry section) and the co-supervisor was Dr. Fausto Guzzetti (CNR-IRPI). The thesis was refereed by Prof. Jean-Luc Probst (EcoLab, CNRS – Toulouse University Paul Sabatier – Toulouse Institute of Technology, France) and Dr. Fatima Viveiros (University of the Azores, Centro de Vulcanologia e Avaliação de Riscos Geológicos, Portugal) and in February 2013 I took the European PhD.
The object of the work was the study of the main processes that control the production (by CO2 degassing from the springs) and the consumption of atmospheric CO2 in Alpine region (by riverine weathering). In order to estimate the atmospheric CO2 production, I elaborated a database with chemical and isotopic analyses of the main Alpine springs and in order to enrich the database with new data, I collected several Alpine springs. On the other hand, in order to estimate the atmospheric CO2 consumption I sampled the waters of the main Alpine rivers and I estimated the CO2 consumption by weathering. This part of PhD was performed in collaboration between EcoLab (CNRS – Toulouse University Paul Sabatier – Toulouse Institute of Technology, France) during a placement of three months under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Luc Probst (EcoLab).
I performed chemical and isotopic analyses of the sampled waters in the laboratories of Perugia University (Italy) and of EcoLab (Toulouse, France). The collaboration with CNR – IRPI allowed me to acquire skills related to the management of spatial data using open source software (GRASS and QuantumGIS for geomorphological and hydrogeological analysis and for elaborating maps, PostGIS and PostgreSQL systems for processing and management spatial databases and R for statistical and geostatistical analysis).

Between September 2012 and August 2013 I had a grant from Perugia University for the study “Study of the CO2 diffuse degassing from the soil in Solfatara di Pozzuoli (Napoli, Italy)”, during which I performed several fieldworks in order to evaluate the volcanic hazard in Phlegrean Fields (Napoli). Moreover during my post-doc activity I improved the database of Alpine springs performing new fieldworks.

At the present I have a grant from CNR-IRPI (National Research Council – Research Institute for Hydrogeological Protection) of Perugia for a study on economic evaluation of natural disasters and my supervisor is Dr. Paola Salvati.