Disney Science in Comics: Genetics and Evolution

Dr. Silvia Bencivelli is a renowned expert in animal ecology with a PhD in the field. Since May 2014, she has headed the Wildlife Advisory Service at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). In 2017, she assumed the role of Head of the Area for Wildlife Management and Conservation at ISPRA.

Dr. Bencivelli holds significant international positions, including chairing the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. She is also a Research Associate with Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and serves as an International Science Advisor for the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Her extensive work in conservation biology spans several key areas, including the ecology and conservation of carnivores, wildlife translocations, biodiversity monitoring, and invasive species management. In her work on carnivore ecology, she supervised the reintroduction of brown bears to the Italian Alps and coordinated the development of national action plans for the conservation of wolves, brown bears, and otters for the Italian Ministry of Environment. She is an active member of the International Association for Bear Research and Management, having served as Vice President for many years.

Regarding translocations, Dr. Bencivelli led the coordination of national guidelines on animal translocations in 1996 and updated guidelines for species of community interest in 2007. She was also a member of the SSC task force responsible for the IUCN Guidelines on Reintroductions and other Conservation Translocations, adopted in 2012. From 2011 to 2014, she directed the establishment of the national 3rd Report under Article 17 of the Habitat Directive, managing a group of 73 authors and over 100 experts.

Dr. Bencivelli is deeply involved in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), serving on the Steering Committee of the Species Survival Commission since 2013 and previously on the Red List Committee.

Her primary focus is on invasive species and related policy development. She co-authored the European Strategy on Invasive Alien Species, adopted by the Council of Europe in 2003. Since then, she has published numerous papers on invasion patterns and responses to this threat, with contributions to high-impact journals such as Science, Nature, PNAS, PLoS, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Conservation Biology, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, and Global Change Biology.

Dr. Bencivelli collaborates closely with major international organizations on invasive species issues, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the European Union, the Bern Convention, the European Environment Agency, and the Convention on Migratory Species. She is a member of the Liaison Group on Invasive Alien Species of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which includes leading international standard-setting bodies like the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Trade Organization, and the World Organisation for Animal Health. More recently, she became a founding member of the Steering Committee of the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership (GIASIP), launched by the Convention on Biological Diversity.

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