I'm currently a Postdoctoral Associate in the Martindale Lab at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida (US). My research focuses on utilizing the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis as a universal expression platform to investigate various aspects of the evolution of biomineralization for environmental restoration purposes (e.g. coral reef enhancement). I'm using a variety of techniques including molecular biology, protein engineering and high resolution in vitro and vivo characterization of biomaterial properties.

I completed my PhD in Prof Tali Mass' Lab at the University of Haifa, Israel. My research focused on the influence of environmental factors on the physiology, morphology and gene expression of stony corals across life stages.

I pursued my Master’s under a joint program between the University of Bologna and the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), where I focused on coral biology and gene expression. While at UCSB, I obtained the AAUS Scientific Diving certification.

  Please note that only publications relevant to mesophotic reefs are indexed.

	Physiological Characteristics of Stylophora pistillata Larvae Across a Depth Gradient | article Scucchia F, Nativ H, Neder M, Goodbody-Gringley G, Mass T (2020) Front Mar Sci 7:13
	Genetic and physiological traits conferring tolerance to ocean acidification in mesophotic corals | article Scucchia F, Malik A, Putnam HM, Mass T (2021) Global Change Biol 27:5276-5294
	Plasticity of Porites astreoides early life history stages suggests mesophotic coral ecosystems act as refugia in Bermuda | article Goodbody-Gringley G, Scucchia F, Ju R, Chequer A, Einbinder S, Martinez S, Nativ H, Mass T (2021) Front Mar Sci 8:702672
	In situ estimation of coral recruitment patterns from shallow to mesophotic reefs using an optimized fluorescence imaging system | article Nativ H, Scucchia F, Martinez S, Einbinder S, Chequer A, Goodbody-Gringley G, Mass T (2021) Front Mar Sci 8:709175
	Energy sources of the depth-generalist mixotrophic coral Stylophora pistillata | article Martinez S, Kolodny Y, Shemesh E, Scucchia F, Nevo R, Levin-Zaidman S, Paltiel Y, Keren N, Tchernov D, Mass T (2020) Front Mar Sci 7:566663
	Physiological and morphological plasticity in Stylophora pistillata larvae from Eilat, Israel, to shallow and mesophotic light conditions | article Bellworthy J, Pardo R, Scucchia F, Zaslansky P, Goodbody-Gringley G, Mass T (2023) iScience 26:106969
	Morphological and genetic mechanisms underlying the plasticity of the coral Porites astreoides across depths in Bermuda | article Scucchia F, Wong K, Zaslansky P, Putnam HM, Goodbody-Gringley G, Mass T. (2023) J Struct Biol 215:108036

  SCUBA (open-circuit or unspecified)
  Snorkeling
  Aquarium-based