Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli, a marine biologist at the University of Zagreb, specializes in Adriatic benthic habitats. Her research on sediment dynamics and climate change impacts has led to seminal projects with international teams. Notably, she led the ‘Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas’ initiative, addressing biodiversity degradation through innovative methods and multi-sector partnerships.
Tatjana is a marine biologist and ecologist. Up to now, Tatjana has published 64 scientific papers, among which 34 are in Web of Science indexed journals and 5 are in SCOPUS indexed journals. Among those 34 papers, 17 are in the Q1 category, and 9 are in the Q2 category (JCR). Tatjana has presented over a hundred contributions at international and domestic scientific conferences and has published 4 books as a single author, along with numerous professional and popular articles. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Scientific Council for scientific research of the Adriatic Sea of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts. Since 1986, Tatjana has participated in undergraduate and graduate teaching in the Biology Study at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. She teaches a number of courses in marine biology and ecology and also teaches at the Doctoral study of Biology and at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Study of Oceanography at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. She has over 7000 norm hours of experience in independent academic teaching, including lectures, seminars, practical work, and fieldwork. Tatjana has mentored 4 dissertations, 2 master’s theses, and 62 undergraduate theses.
The Zoological Department conducts extensive research in various fields of zoology, recognisable for its ecotoxicological research and biodiversity protection. The Department includes a library and a rich collection of zoological specimens, and collaborates with numerous domestic and foreign institutions. Intensive collaboration within the Biological Department, interdisciplinary field research, and intensive marine biology research in the field of Adriatic Sea constitute key aspects of the Department’s activities. Animal breeding facilities are indispensable in teaching and research, providing necessary resources for diverse studies and experiments. Laboratory and the faculty building are currently under construction.
The scientific method is an approach used by researchers to either support or disprove a theory. Simply put, it consists of the following steps: Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Method, Experiment, and Conclusion. It all begins with an observation of something noteworthy in the material world, which then leads to the formation of a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a guess about the outcome of an experiment, which researchers then test by designing and trying out different methods, drawing upon their creativity and knowledge. Throughout this process, the hypothesis undergoes constant change, modification, and refinement. This step is followed by experiments and measurements conducted according to the designed methods, with careful attention paid to factors such as sample size, controls, and repetitions. The results and data are recorded and analyzed. Based on the analysis, the researcher then decides whether the hypothesis is supported or rejected.
Throughout her career, Tatjana has conducted numerous successful research projects. These include discovering a deep-sea carnivorous sponge in an Adriatic marine cave, correlating marine organism mass mortalities with Mediterranean marine heat waves, and studying Marine Lake Zmajevo Oko in Rogoznica. This lake, functioning as a small bioreactor, is endangered due to recent climate changes, signaling potential threats to other shallow coastal areas. Her work focuses on interdisciplinary collaborations with experts from biology, geography, chemistry, physics, geology, and mathematics. For example, by analyzing biological sea-level indicators like algal rims alongside archaeological data, her team determined ancient sea levels and calculated sea level rise over two millennia, also documenting past seismic events. This research sheds light on future sea level rise predictions and the impact of climatic events on marine life. Tatjana’s involvement in the artistic project ‘Mare Modul’, initiated by ceramic artist Lidia Boševski, is particularly meaningful. Artists created ceramic habitats submerged in areas already affected by human activities. The research team monitors marine organisms’ colonization of these habitats. The ‘Mare Modul’ project received the 2018 annual award from the Croatian Association of Applied Arts Artists for the best exhibition.