Maria Siclari: the new Director of the Department for the Italian Geological Survey
The Department for the Italian Geological Survey of Italy, ISPRA, is pleased to welcome Maria Siclari, the new Director of the Department starting from 1st of May.
Siclari had already headed in ISPRA the Contract and Tender Department, then she was appointed General Director for INGV and subsequently Deputy Head of the Civil Protection Department.
In her first days, the new Head of the Geological Survey met the staff for an introduction and for the handover of Marco La Commare who, for a few months, directed the Department after Claudio Campobasso retirement. All employees, on that occasion, expressed their warmest thanks to La Commare for the intense work done.
Siclari affirmed her intention to continue the activities of the Geological Survey focusing on addressing the main global environmental challenges connected to geological issues, with particular reference to the priorities defined by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and to the targets identified by the European Committee to achieve climate neutrality (see European Green Deal).
The main activities are: the completion of the national Program of Geological and Geothematic Cartography at a scale of 1: 50,000 (CARG project), the updating of the Inventory of Landslides (IFFI) and Capable Faults (ITHACA). The need to combine the knowledge activity with the monitoring of environmental and geological data has been underlined, including therefore the State of Implementation of Mitigation Measures for Land Protection (ReNDiS), land use and consumption, ecosystem services and soil deformations. Siclari stated her full support to the Ministry in carrying out the investigation activities for the remediation of contaminated sites of national interest and the support for EIA/VAS procedures referring to the soil and subsoil component.
The Director also underlined the importance of focusing our activities on citizen’s needs, therefore dissemination of geological information (in terms of access to databases), dissemination through any means of communication (starting from the Geological Survey Portal) must become primary activities as well as the enhancement of the national geological heritage and the geological museum collections of the Geological Survey.
The Director concluded the meeting by specifying the need for all these activities to be carried out in synergy with the other Departments/National Centers of ISPRA and with SNPA, also in coordination with the others European Geological Surveys, with the regional geological offices that are part of the Italian Network of Geological Surveys (RISG), in collaboration with other competent subjects in the field of Earth sciences at national level (eg INGV, CNR, OGS, ENEA) and with the Civil Protection Department.
