Giulio Franzitta, a young Italian scientist from the University of Bologna, had the opportunity to spend 10 months at the University of Plymouth (UK) thanks to an Erasmus and a Marco Polo grand that was entirely financed by the Theseus project. He said: “THESUES and the University of Plymouth Ecology Group gave me a fantastic opportunity to carry out field experiments to test the impacts of changes in salinity on detritus degradation in a flooding scenario.
Extreme inundation and flooding events can impact ecosystem functioning by affecting the deposition and distribution of organic material. Hence, detritus from marine sources can be moved further inland and up the river system, whilst estuarine and marine systems could receive greater inputs and unusual amounts of terrestrial-derived detritus."   

 "As part of this study, we carried out experiments across a saline transition zone at two similar estuaries located in South Devon, UK. The work was fascinating because it was my first experience working in an estuarine environment.
I would really like to thank Prof. Richard Thompson and all the people from the marine biology and ecology research centre (UoP) for making me part of their Group. I participated in internal seminars, scientific discussions and received important suggestions for the successful completion of the experiment. This experience was extremely important for my education and professional growth.”