Paolo Montagna

Paolo Montagna is Research Director at the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (ISP-CNR) in Bologna and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), Columbia University. His research focuses on the geochemistry of biogenic carbonates for palaeoclimate reconstructions and the study of biomineralization processes.

He received his PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Padova in 2005, with a European Doctorate Label, following doctoral research conducted in collaboration with the Australian National University and the Universitat de Barcelona. He previously obtained his Laurea degree in Earth Sciences (equivalent to BSc + MSc, summa cum laude) from the University of Padova in 1999.

He was awarded a three-year Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, through which he spent two years at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, and one year at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE) in Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

His work is centered on the development and application of geochemical proxies to address key questions in paleoceanography and to improve our understanding of calcification mechanisms in marine biogenic carbonates. His research includes the analysis of minor and trace elements, as well as stable and radiogenic isotope systems (boron, neodymium, strontium, U-Th), in shallow-water, deep-water, and fossil coral skeletons. Through this work, he has contributed to the reconstruction of past ocean conditions and to the refinement of geochemical tools used in marine palaeoclimate studies.

Paolo Montagna has participated in more than 25 oceanographic expeditions, including two as Chief Scientist and one as Co-Chief Scientist, in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, as well as in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. He has also taken part in numerous SCUBA diving expeditions worldwide for coral sampling.

Fields of Interest

  • PALEOCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTIONS. Development and application of geochemical proxies in biogenic carbonates to reconstruct past oceanographic and climatic variability across seasonal to centennial and longer timescales.
  • CORAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND BIOMINERALIZATION. Investigation of calcification mechanisms and skeletal geochemistry in shallow-water, deep-water, and polar corals, with particular focus on trace elements and isotope systematics.
  • MARINE GEOCHEMICAL PROXIES AND ISOTOPE METHODS. Refinement and application of trace-element and isotopic tools, including U-Th dating, boron, neodymium, strontium isotopes, for paleoenvironmental reconstructions and studies of ocean acidification and water-mass dynamics.

Education

  • 2005 PhD, Earth Sciences, University of Padova, Italy.
  • 2004 Visiting student as part of doctoral research, Universitát de Barcelona, Spain.
  • 2003 Visiting student as part of doctoral research, ANU, Canberra, Australia.
  • 1999 Laurea Degree (5 years program = B.S. + M.S.), Earth Sciences (summa cum laude), University of Padova, Italy.

Honors & Awards

  • 2009 - 2011 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Invited Visiting Professor at Paris-Sud University (Orsay, France) (2015)
  • Invited Visiting Professor at Paris-Sud University (Orsay, France) (2014)

Last 5 years

  1. Jung J., Duprey N., Foreman A., D’Olivo J.P., Pellio C., Ryu Y., Murphy E., Romshoo B., Kersting D., Cardoso G., Wald T., Fripiat F., Jimenez C., Gischler E., Montagna P., Alonso-Hernández C., Gomez-Batista M., Treinen-Crespo C., Carriquiry J., Ong M., Goodkin N., Guppy R., Aardema H., Slagter H., Heins L., Hrabe De Angelis I., Bieler A., Yehudai M., Noël T., James K., Scholz D., Hu C., Barnes B., Pozzer A., Pöhlker C., Lelieveld J., Pöschl U., Vonhof H., Haug G., Schiebel R., Sigman D., Martínez-García A. (2025). Equatorial upwelling of phosphorus drives N2 fixation and Sargassum bloom. Nature Geoscience, 18, 1259–1265. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01812-2.
  2. Di Giovanna F., Castellan G., Vitelletti M., Taviani M., Foglini F., McCulloch M., Montagna P.., Trotter J. (2025). Predicting suitable areas for cold-water scleractinian corals in southwestern Australian submarine canyons. Journal of Biogeography, 0, 1-16.
  3. Castellan G., Montagna P., Taviani M. (2025). A changing lightscape: Two decades of satellite data to map the global benthic mesophotic zone and explore trends of change. Science of the Total Environment, 959, 178163.
  4. Tesi T., Asioli A., Previde Massara E., Montagna P., Pellegrini C., Nogarotto A., Cipriani A., Piva A., Muschitiello F., Rovere M., Viaggi P., Trincardi F. (2024). Abrupt and persistent shutdown of the thermohaline forcing during MIS5e in the Adriatic Sea: Insights from shallow-water sapropel sediments. Quaternary Science Advances, 13, 100134.
  5. Canesi M., Douville E., Bordier L., Dapoigny A., Montagna P., Allemand D., Planes D., Furla P., Gilson E., Zoccola D., Reynaud S. (2024). Porites’ coral calcifying fluid chemistry regulation under normal-and low-pH seawater conditions in Palau Archipelago: Impacts on growth properties. Science of the Total Environment, 911, 168552.
  6. Taviani M., Montagna P., Hosie A., Castellan G., Kemper C., Foglini F., McCulloch M., Foglini F. (2024). Whale fall chemosymbiotic communities in a southwest Australian submarine canyon fill a distributional gap. Heliyon, 10, 8.
  7. Foglini F. et al. (2024). A new multi-resolution bathymetric dataset of the Gulf of Naples (Italy) from complementary multi-beam echosounders. Earth System Science Data Discussions, 1-34.
  8. De Santis V., Montagna P., Scicchitano G., Mastronuzzi G., Pons-Branchu E., Scardino G., Ortiz J., Sanchez-Palencia Y., Torres T., Caldara M. (2024). Two main highstands during the last interglacial: Insights from paleoshorelines and marine terraced deposits along the Ionian coast of the Apulian region, southern Italy. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 49, 3638-3662.
  9. Calcinai B., Marrocco T., Roveta C., Puce S., Montagna P., Mazzoli C., Canese S., Vultaggio C., Bertolino M. (2024). Porifera associated with deep-water Stylasterids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa): New species and records from the Ross Sea (Antarctica). Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12, 2317.
  10. Canesi M., Douville E., Montagna P., Bordier L., Caquineau S., Pons-Branchu E., Iwankow G., Stolarski J., Allemand D., Planes S., Moulin C., Lombard F., Bourdin G., Troublé R., Agostini S., Banaigs B., Boissin E., Boss E., Bowler C., de Vargas C., Flores J.M., Forcioli D., Furla P., Gilson E., Galand P., Pesant S., Sunagawa S., Thomas O., Vega Thurber R., Voolstra C., Wincker P., Zoccola D., Reynaud S. (2024). Sea surface temperature reconstruction in the Pacific Ocean using multi-elemental proxy in Porites and Diploastrea corals: Application to Palau Archipelago. Chemical Geology, 645.
  11. De Santis V., Scardino G., Scicchitano G., Mechis M., Montagna P., Pons-Branchu E., Ortiz J., Sánchez-Palencia Y., Caldara M. (2023). Dissolved neodymium isotopes in the Mediterranean Sea. Geomorphology, 108530.
  12. Taviani M., Foglini F., Castellan G., Montagna P., McCulloch M., Trotter J. (2023). First assessment of anthropogenic impacts in submarine canyon systems off southwestern Australia. Science of The Total Environment, 857, 159243.
  13. Canesi M., Douville E., Montagna P., et al. (2023). Differences in carbonate chemistry up-regulation of long-lived reef-building corals. Scientific Reports, 13, 11589.
  14. Cenozoic CO2 Proxy Integration Project Consortium (2023). Toward a Cenozoic history of atmospheric CO2. Science, 382, 6675.
  15. Trotter J., McCulloch M., D’Olivo J.P., Scott P., Tisnerat-Laborde N., Taviani M., Montagna P. (2022). Deep-water coral records of glacial and recent ocean-atmosphere dynamics from the Perth Canyon in the southeast Indian Ocean. Quaternary Science Advances, 6, 100052.
  16. La Mesa M., Canese S., Montagna P., Schiaparelli S. (2022). Underwater photographic survey of coastal fish community of Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea. Diversity, 14, 315.
  17. Castellan G., Angeletti L., Montagna P., Taviani M. (2022). Drawing the borders of the mesophotic zone of the Mediterranean Sea using satellite data. Scientific reports, 12, 5585.
  18. Montagna P., Colin C., Frank M., Störling T., Tanhua T., Rijkenberg M., Taviani M., Schroeder K., Chiggiato J., Gao G., Dapoigny A., Goldstein S. (2021). Dissolved neodymium isotopes in the Mediterranean Sea. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 332, 143-169.
  19. De Santis V., Scardino G., Scicchitano G., Montagna P., Pons-Branchu E., Ortiz J., Sánchez-Palencia Y., Lisco S., Moretti M., Caldara M. (2022). Last interglacial pressure pattern over the Mediterranean from aeolian sediments: A case study from Apulia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 605, 111228.
  20. Trotter J., Taviani M., Foglini F., Sadekov A., Skrzypek G., Mazzoli C., Remia A., Santodomingo N., Castellan G., McCulloch M., Pattiaratchi C., Montagna P. (2022). Unveiling deep-sea habitats of the Southern Ocean-facing submarine canyons of southwestern Australia. Progress in Oceanography, 209, 102904.
  21. Sanchez-Cabeza J.A., Rico-Esenaro S.D., Corcho-Alvarado J.A., Rollin S., Carricart-Gavinet J.P., Montagna P., Ruiz- Fernandez A.C., Cearreta A. (2021). Plutonium in coral archives: A good primary marker for an Anthropocene type section. Science of the Total Environment, 145077.
  22. Ragazzola F., Kolzenburg R., Adani M., Bordone A., Cantoni C., Cerrati G., Ciuffardi T., Cocito S., Luchetta A., Montagna P., Nannini M., Page D., Peirano A., Raiteri G., Lombardi C. (2021). Carbonate chemistry and temperature dynamics in an alga dominated habitat. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 44, 101770.
  23. Antonioli F., Furlani S., Montagna P., Stocchi P. (2021). The use of submerged speleothems for sea level studies in the Mediterranean Sea: A new perspective using glacial isostatic adjustment. Geosciences, 11, 77.
  24. Antonioli F., Furlani S., Montagna P., Stocchi P., Calcagnile L., Quarta G., Cecchinel J., Lo Presti V., Morticelli M., Foresta Martin F., Pons-Branchu E., Vaccher V. (2021). Submerged speleothems and sea level reconstructions: A global overview and new results from the Mediterranean Sea. Water, 13, 1663.
  25. Colin C., Duhamel M., Siani G., Dubois-Dauphin Q., Ducassou E., Liu Z., Wu J., Revel M., Dapoigny A., Douville E., Taviani M., Montagna P. (2021). Changes in the intermediate water masses of the Mediterranean Sea during the last climatic cycle: New contraints from neodymium isotopes in foraminifera. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36, e2020PA004153.
  26. Castellan G., Angeletti L., Canese S., Mazzoli C., Montagna P., Schiaparelli S., Taviani M. (2021). Visual imaging of benthic carbonate-mixed factories in the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area, Antarctica. Minerals, 11, 833. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11080833.
  27. Furlani S., Vaccher V., Antonioli F., Agate M., Montagna P., Venturini E. (2021). Preservation of modern and MIS5.5 erosional landforms and biological structures as sea level markers: A matter of luck? Water, 13, 2127.
  28. Duhamel M., Colin C., Revel M., Siani G., Dapoigny A., Douville E., Wu J., Zhao Y., Liu Z., Montagna P. (2020). Variations in eastern Mediterranean hydrology during the last climatic cycle as inferred from neodymium isotopes in foraminifera. Quaternary Science Reviews, 237, 106306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106306.
  29. Amitai Y., Yam R., Montagna P., Devoti S., Lopez Correa M., Shemesh A. (2020). Spatial and temporal variability in Mediterranean climate over the last millennium from vermetid isotope records and CMIP5/PMIP3 models. Global and Planetary Change, 189, 103159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103159.
  30. Montagna P. and Douville E. (2020). Geochemical proxies in marine biogenic carbonates: New developments and applications to global change. Chemical Geology, 533, 119411.
  31. Sisma-Ventura G., Antonioli F., Silenzi S., Devoti S., Montagna P., Chemello R., Shemesh A., Yam R., Gehrels R., Dean S., Rilov G., Sivan D. (2020). Assessing Vermetid reefs as indicators of past sea-levels in the Mediterranean. Marine Geology, 429, 106313.
  32. Angeletti L., Castellan G., Montagna P., Remia A., Taviani M. (2020). The «Corsica Channel cold-water coral Province» (Mediterranean Sea). Frontiers in Marine Science, 7:661, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00661.
  33. Pace B., Valentini A., Ferranti L., Vasta M., Vassallo M., Montagna P., Colella A., Pons-Branchu E. (2020). A large paleoearthquake in Central Apennines, Italy, recorded by the collapse of a massive cave speleothem. Tectonics, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020TC006289.