Marine biology concerns the study of marine life in the ocean as well as in saltwater environments such as wetlands, estuaries, creeks, bays, and inlets. Marine biologists study plants, animals, and the water itself in order to better understand the relationship between organisms and their environment.

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic within the European Union, located in Southern Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps.