Dr Fiorenza Torricella is a micropaleontologist and sedimentologist specializing in polar marine environments, with particular expertise in diatoms and paleoenvironmental and palaeoceanography reconstructions. She earned a BSc and MSc in Geological Sciences/Geosciences from the University of Trieste and a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Pisa, where her research focused on Holocene paleoenvironmental reconstructions in Antarctica’s Ross Sea and along the western Svalbard margin using diatom and sedimentological proxies. Her professional career has included research fellowships at the University of Trieste, the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), and the Institute of Polar Sciences of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISP).

She currently works at the University of Salamanca (USAL) within AuSpire, where her research focuses on modern diatom and phytoplankton assemblages and their role in carbon export and transfer to the seafloor. Her work also investigates the role and incorporation of iron within diatoms, contributing to a better understanding of the interactions among phytoplankton ecology, biogeochemical cycling and the marine carbon pump. More broadly, her research integrates micropaleontology, sedimentology, geochemistry and chronological approaches to investigate oceanographic and environmental processes, particularly in polar regions. She has participated in international research collaborations, oceanographic expeditions and polar research projects and has experience in scientific publishing, teaching, conference organization and science communication.