Class '97, born and raised in Calabria (precisely Reggio Calabria, Southern Italy), Arianna grew with a window on the ever changing currents of Strait of Messina.
She followed her curious attitude and passion for the Ocean abroad, graduating first in BSc Marine Biology at Bangor University (North Wales, UK), and shortly after in MRes Marine Biology specializing in Marine Ecology and Conservation in a joint course between University of Plymouth and The Marine Biological Association (UK).
She served as research assistant for multiple PhD Students and Researchers, including the legend of marine biology Dr Eve Southward, for whom she digitized her collection of deep sea photo samples from the 70s. Arianna immediately realised her profound curiosity for marine research, and first came in contact with citizen science through an internship at Capturing Our Coasts, once the UK biggest intertidal citizen science project.
Since then, all her dissertation, theses and interest were focused on finding new ways to bridge marine science gaps with the help of communities. During her academic career she also started to volunteer and later worked for 3 years at Worldrise ONLUS, where thanks to one of her mentors Mariasole Bianco she developed the project management and communication skills needed to move back to Italy after her master and kick start her career.
Back in Italy, Arianna soon started to lead successful marine conservation and education projects first alongside Worldrise and then as part of the team of Outdoor Portofino, where she developed and found funding for several marine citizen science projects fostering the community of outdoor enthusiasts to gather essential data about the Mediterranean’s biodiversity and pollution. In 2021 she also worked as Marine Education Coordinator for One Ocean Foundation, contributing to the creation of the first edition of the MARE Project, managing high-end events raising awareness on Ocean’s importance and problems among school children.
Alongside her roles, she maintained an institutional position at The Marine Biological Association as Chief of the Mediterranean Sea Special Interest Group, worked as a diving guide for Scilla Diving Center and as snorkeling guide for Roofless during summers, published several scientific papers as part of conference proceedings and citizen science work (scientific articles can be found here), and assisted a total number of 6 undergraduate and master students in their thesis, dissertations and internships (some of which can be found here).
In 2022 she was invited to present at TEDXGenova, and her philosophy inside the marine citizen science world together with some of Outdoor Portofino’s team, led to be instrumental in the founding of OutBe, a now certified B-Corp striving to involve people in outdoor regenerative activities with a positive environmental and social impact. She now manages the marine research team of the company, advancing marine citizen science across an array of different European funded projects including CROPS and CS-MACH1 , in which she coordinates communication, and community propagation managing a team of 5 people. Recently she created and hosted the podcast Citizen Science Champions inside the CROPS-EU project, collating stories of people making a difference for citizen science in Europe, and participated as protagonist in the Ocean Film Festival selected documentary PLAYGROUND.
In 2023 Arianna crossed the Atlantic Ocean sailing as a support boat for the Mini Transat race, in which her partner Francesco Farci was taking part. During the crossing, she tested innovative low-tech sensors to monitor for essential Ocean parameters while sailing and developed a strong interest and experience in multidisciplinary projects between recreational and professional navigation and marine research. Shortly after, sailing became a focal point of her personal and professional life.
She renovated (thanks to the support of Veneziani Yachting) and moved full-time onboard Binba, a vintage sailing boat (Serenity CBS) from the 1981 on which she now works and lives in the Mediterranean Sea with her partner, took part in different offshore sailing races (check here for sailing chats!) and started working to connect Ocean research projects with Ocean lovers like sailors and vice versa.
She tested and distributed a new meteorological and Ocean monitoring device in the Mediterranean on behalf of the French start-up Oceano Vox, leading science and storytelling strategies to enhance the community of sailors. Her work in this domain includes equipping the new Class40 race boat skippered by Luca Rosetti Maccaferri Futura with new Ocean monitoring instruments and citizen science programs, and managing the Ocean purpose project of Djemila Sailing in her road towards the Global Solo Challenge 2027. In November 2024 and then again in August 2025 she was invited to host The Ocean Race Summit in Alicante and Kiel, where she fostered conversations from high-end Ocean professionals from all over the world, bringing her mediation role also on stage. Arianna is now part of The Ocean Race as Content Manager for summits, social media and events inside the Racing for the Ocean team, supporting the essential connection between offshore sailing and Ocean research.
Arianna currently defines herself as a mediator between Ocean science and Ocean lovers, living at sea and working to establish meaningful connections to advance marine research, enhance multidisciplinary collaboration and strengthen the emotional connection with our playground, home and Blue Planet.
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