Centre for Integrative Ecology
Deakin University, Burwood campus
221 Burwood Hwy, VIC 3125
Martino is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms shaping biological communities across various scales.
At the microscopic scale, Martino has a decade of experience working with phytoplankton species, combining laboratory experiments, fieldwork and theoretical approaches. In particular, he designed and managed the World’s first artificial selection program with a microorganism, which is ongoing since early 2016.
At the macroscopic scale, Martino studies the impacts of artificial structures on greenhouse gases in aquatic systems. For instance, he used satellite data to derive the first estimates on the impacts of marine urbanization (such as ports, quays, marinas, etc.) on primary productivity and carbon emission. He also worked on estimating the biogenic emissions of producing energy, comparing renewable sources with non-renewable power plans.
Martino’s research at Deakin’s Blue Carbon Lab focuses on developing satellite tools to monitor greenhouse gases from microbial communities in Australia’s farm dams. Farm dams are the highest greenhouse gas emitters of all freshwater ecosystems, producing the equivalent to 385,000 cars each day in Victoria alone. Martino will lead an interdisciplinary project in collaboration with IT, Engineering, and Environmental Sciences to explore management strategies and incentives for “greener” practices.
Farm Dams, remote sensing, ecological modelling, greenhouse gases, ecoevolutionary dynamics, body size
Career Highlights
Malerba, M, Wright, N & Macreadie, P. 2021. A Continental-Scale Assessment of Density, Size, Distribution and Historical Trends of Farm Dams Using Deep Learning Convolutional Neural Networks. Remote Sens 13, 319
Malerba, M & Marshall, D. 2020. Testing the drivers of the temperature–size covariance using artificial selection. Evolution
Malerba, M, White, C & Marshall, D. 2019. The outsized trophic footprint of marine urbanization . Front Ecol Environ 17 (7), 400-406
Malerba, M. & Marshall, D. 2019. Size-abundance rules? Evolution changes scaling relationships between size, metabolism and demography. Ecology Letters 22 (9), 1407-1416
Malerba, M., White, C. & Marshall, D. 2018. Eco-energetic consequences of evolutionary shifts in body size. Ecology Letters 21 (1), 54-62
Malerba, M, Palacios, MM, Delgado, Y., Beardall, J. & Marshall, D. 2018. Cell size, photosynthesis and the package effect: an artificial selection approach. New Phytologist 219 (1), 449-461
Malerba, M., White, C. & Marshall, D. 2017. Phytoplankton size-scaling of net-energy flux across light and biomass gradients. Ecology 98 (12), 3106-3115
Malerba, M., Heimann, K. & Connolly, S. 2016. Improving dynamic phytoplankton reserve-utilization models with an indirect proxy for internal nitrogen. J Theoretical Biology 57 (5), 1555-1571
My story (interview in italian), SBS italian (2020)
Playing god (interview in italian), SBS italian (2020)
Daylight robbery: how human-built structures leave coastal ecosystems in the shadows, The Conversation (2019)
Species are shrinking, Australasian Science (2018)
Evolution on an ecological scale, Australasian Science (2017)
Incredible phytoplankton, 3CR radio interview (2017)