The history

S.It.E. was founded in 1976 principally due to the initiative, commitment and organisational skills of Antonio Moroni, Professor of Ecology at the University of Parma, a renowned researcher in the fields of hydrobiology, human genetics and environmental education. For the year following its foundation, the Society was directed by a Coordinating Committee presided by Valerio Giacomini, eminent botanist and pioneer in conservation biology; the other members of the Committee were Franco Bruno, Luciano Bullini, Antonio Moroni and Oscar Ravera. The first President was Adriano Buzzati Traverso (1977-1980), a scientist of proven experience in the field of genetics. Thereafter, the Society was presided over by Antonio Moroni (1980-1985, 1988-1992), Giuseppe Montalenti (1986-1987), experimental biologist and geneticist, who in the sixties was president of the IUBS and participated in the promotion of the IBP, and Oscar Ravera (1993-1994), hydrobiologist and radioecologist who chaired the 5th European Ecological Symposium in Siena, 1989 on "Anthropogenic perturbations of ecological systems".