The National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS)will host the “Traversing European Coastlines” (TREC) expedition for three weeks. The mission, coordinated by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), along with Tara Ocean Foundation and the European Marine Biology Resource Centre (EMBRC), is involved in the study of coastal ecosystems through sampling activities aimed at understanding how these environments address natural and anthropic challenges.
The expedition, which set sail from the port of Roscoff in France in 2023 and is scheduled to complete mid-2024, will collect samples from 120 sites of 21 European countries integrating extensive scientific activities on both land and sea.
The mission has carried out studies and research in Pisa and Naples before docking in Trieste, where it will support the investigational activities on the Gulf ecosystem by providing research infrastructures.
The TREC expedition will focus especially on the study of some model species that inhabit the Northern Adriatic Sea to assess genetic variations in comparison with samples from other parts of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.