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Contact data |
Associate
Professor |
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Biography |
Antonio Di Guardo received
his degree in Agricultural Science in 1989, and a PhD in Chemistry,
Biochemistry and Ecology of Pesticides in 1994, both from the University
of Milan. He was a Post-Doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto,
Canada (1994-1996) developing models to predict the fate of chemicals
in the environment. He was Assistant Professor of Ecology at the
University of Insubria (1996-2005) in Varese and, as of October
2005, he is Associate Professor of Ecology and Ecotoxicology at
the University of Insubria in Como. |
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Qualifications and awards |
(1989) Degree in Agricultural
Science from the University of Milan. (1994) PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry
and Ecology of Pesticides from the University of Milan. Title of the
Thesis: “Formulation, application and experimental validation
of a model for predicting the fate of pesticides applied to soil and
the contamination of surface waters”. (2003) External examiner at the University of Lancaster (UK) for a PhD committee. (2004) External examiner at the University of Siena for a PhD committee. |
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Research interests |
Environmental Fate Model
development. Prof. Di Guardo’s research activities are related
to the study of the environmental pathways and behavior of chemicals.
This is mainly done with the development, calibration and validation
of environmental multimedia models, at various scales in time and
space; in particular models for the prediction of the behavior of
chemicals at a regional scale, but also soil models, surface water
models, air dispersion models, food web models etc. For instance a
Soil model (SoilFug, Di Guardo et al, 1994a) was developed for the
evaluation of the behavior of pesticides in soil. Its major goal was
the prediction of runoff water concentration as well as concentration
in the different soil phases. The model was then tested against actual
data in controlled field experiments done in collaboration with a
number of research groups. A strategy for the evaluation of the environmental
fate of chemicals was also developed in collaboration with Don Mackay
and coworkers at the University of Toronto (Mackay et al., 1996, a,b,c).
As part of this strategy two models were developed: EQC (Equilibrium
Criterion Model, an evaluative regional model) and ChemCAN (a model
for the prediction of the fate of chemicals in regional environments).
A surface water model (Dyna model, Di Guardo et al. 2005), was developed,
in dynamic (unsteady-state) formulation in order to predict water
and sediment concentrations of chemicals when time variable discharges
are present. The simulations allowed the calculation of the probable
inventory of DDT in the recent contamination Lake Maggiore. More recently,
bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms was studied with the development
of an unsteady state single organism model, to depict concentration
variation of chemicals during the entire life cycle of the organism. Bioaccumulation of chemicals in vegetation. Among the most recent research interests there is the attempt of modeling bioaccumulation of chemicals in vegetation and to show the potential for the plant biomass to deplete pollutant from the air compartment. Field and laboratory studies are carried out as part of the research in order to derive critical fluxes and quantify the mechanisms necessary to fill the gaps in model development. As an example a measurement campaign of air, vegetation, litter and soil concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) was performed in three forest sites in the Italian Alps, characterized by different forest composition. Buffer strips and water contamination. The importance of vegetated buffer strips is also investigated, both experimentally and with the help of models, to characterize the most important factors in reducing surface water contamination of pesticides. Integration of models. Additional interest is also recently devoted towards the integration of several types of environmental fate and bioaccumulation models into spatially explicit and dynamic formulations. The importance of time and space in driving concentration variations in the environment is fully acknowledged when more precision and accuracy is needed in the prediction. |
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Teaching experience and appointments |
(1996 – 2005) Prof.
Di Guardo taught courses of “Ecotoxicology” and “Environmental
Modeling” to the students of the Degree in Biological Sciences
(School of Sciences in the University of Insubria in Varese). (2003- present) Prof. Di Guardo taught courses of “Basic and Applied Ecology”, and “Ecotoxicology” to the students of the Degree in Environmental Sciences (School of Sciences in the University of Insubria in Como). Prof. Di Guardo gave seminars at numerous courses at Universities in Italy and abroad (University of Milan, University of Siena, University of Padova, University of Jyväskilä (Finland), University of Toronto (Canada), University of Guelph (Canada). |
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Representative publications |
Finizio A., Di Guardo A., Arnoldi A., Vighi M., Fanelli R. (1991):
Different approaches for the evaluation of Kow for s-triazine herbicides.
Chemosphere, 23, 801-812.
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