29 January 2025 - Science Show Debut and PALEOSIM Closing Seminar

A science show called "Bugs on the Brink" was developed with the close collaboration of the team at Esplora. The show is based on the research material of PALEOSIM. It introduces arthropods and explores what they are, why they're important, where we can find them, and how climate change is impacting their habitats, and in turn, us. This show, will be delivered for the first time on Wednesday 29th January and is expected to become part of Esplora's Educational program from the academic year 2025/26.

The PALEOSIM closing seminar will follow at 11.15am at Esplora. The seminar is open to the public and those interested to attend are encouraged to register by sending an email.

[Newspoint][Esplora Event][Agenda Closing Seminar [PDF]]

17-24 January 2025 - Paleo- & Future-landscape Campaign

An outreach campaign was launched on the PALEOSIM Facebook Page showcasing an artwork series of Maltese landscapes as they may have been seen during the Ice Age, and in a potential future. Visit Project Updates for more information.

1 August 2024 - Secondment at Esplora Interactive Science Centre

PALEOSIM researcher, Dr James Ciarlo` started a 6 month secondment at the Esplora Interactive Science Centre to develop a science show based on the content of the project.

27 September 2024 - European Researchers' Night, Malta 

At the 2024 ‘Science in the City’ event, Dr James Ciarlo` hosted an independent stand featuring visual aids and two prominent posters showcasing high-quality photos and contextual information about the PALEOSIM project. These displays effectively attracted significant interest from visitors.

28 June 2024 - PALEOSIM Seminar

A PALEOSIM seminar entitled, "Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on Small Islands: Unveiling Insect Responses through PALEOSIM" was held on Friday, 28^th June at 4:15 PM at Erin Serracino Inglott Hall at the Msida University Campus. The seminar was led by Dr James Ciarlo`, a Marie Curie researcher working with Prof. David Mifsud at the University of Malta.

A welcoming address was delivered by Prof. Ing. Simon Fabri, Pro-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Malta, and Prof. Simone Fattorini, a distinguished evolutionary biologist, introduced the subject-matter via a presentation entitled "Insect conservation on Mediterranean small islands."

More information is available on the UM Newspoint article, our event page, or ResearchGate.

18 November 2023 - Times of Malta Article

PALEOSIM was featured in a Times of Malta article entitled 'Does man-made climate change affect the Maltese insect population?'. It explained the importance of insects and how climate change may be impacting their habitats. The article was prepared by the Malta Chamber of Scientists.

18-19 November 2023 - 7 years of Esplora
PALEOSIM was showcased again at Esplora for the 7-year Anniversary event of the museum.

1-4 November 2023 - Esplora Halloween event

At the Cirque Bizarre, Esplora's Halloween event for 2023, PALEOSIM was prominently featured showcasing project-related concepts such as arthropods and climate modelling, together with the Citizen Science Program and visualizations of some preliminary research results.

25 May 2023 - MSCA-Net featured story

The Marie Curie Fellow, Dr James Ciarlo` and PALESIM were featured on MSCA-Net as an inspirational story. The story can also be found on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

17 May 2023 - UMRE 2023

On Wednesday, 17th May, Dr James Ciarlo` presented the project concept and citizen-science program of PALEOSIM at the first ever University of Malta Research Expo, together with colleagues from Prof. David Mifsud's Biodiversity and Ecology Research Group.

21 April 2023 - Public talk at the Zoological Museum, University of Catania

Dr James Ciarlo` was hosted by Prof. Giorgio Sabella and Dr Fabio Viglianisi at the Zoological Museum of the University of Catania to give a public talk about the project PALEOSIM, following an introduction by Prof. Sabella and Prof. Christian Mulder from the University of Catania. The talk was also a special platform for the Citizen-Science program in the Sicilian community.

An article was later published on the UNICT Magazine and UM Newspoint, while the talk (presented in italian) can be found on Youtube.

From left to right, David Mifsud, James Ciarlo`, Giorgio Sabella, Fabio Viglianisi, and Christian Mulder.

7 March 2023 - ICTP Seminar 

Dr James Ciarlo` presented a seminar entitled 'Ecological niche modelling for arthropod habitats in the Circum-Sicilian islands: A PALEOSIM component' at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The seminar focused on the biological component of the project, that is, studying the habitat distribution of arthropod species through environmental parameters. The seminar also showcased the preparations of new climate simulations. The ICTP are project partners of PALEOSIM and the seminar was an opportunity to exchange research and new ideas.

7 January 2023 - Bioblitz

A Bioblitz was organized at ir-Razzett tal-Għorof, Triq Il-Buskett, Is-Siġġiewi to provide training for volunteer citizen-scientists. The volunteers were introduced to the project and Epicollect5, the app needed to log their observations, and at the end of the activity possible improvements to the app were discussed to improve the user experience.

25 November 2022 - University of Malta Seminar 

The University of Malta hosted a public seminar entitled 'Climate Impacts on Insect Habitats: PALEOSIM A Marie Curie Project [PDF]'. The seminar introduced the project to the University of Malta staff and students and encouraged participation through PALEOSIM’s citizen-science program. The seminar was held on Friday 25th November at Erin Serracino Inglott Hall at 2pm. [Newspoint]