Dr. Zoccola graduated from the University of Nice – Sophia Antipolis in 1993 with a doctorate in life sciences (immunology specialty), and then worked at the Nice Hospital. His passion for the sea and scuba diving naturally led him to marine biology and coral reef science.

Since 2000, he has been a researcher at the Scientific Center of Monaco (CSM) and is interested in biomineralization and symbioses. For more than 20 years, he has been combining molecular biology, biochemistry and immunochemistry to understand how ions are regulated during coral skeletogenesis, and the role of the organic matrix in biomineralization. As ocean acidification reduces the calcification rates of reef corals, Didier Zoccola also conducts mechanistic studies concerning ocean acidification and biomineralization.

He participated in the Tara Ocean (2010), and Tara Pacific (2017-2018) expeditions, where he was also coordinator (host/symbiont aspects). He is now co-coordinator of the World Coral Conservatory, a biological “Noah’s Ark” of coral species, to support protection, adaptation and restoration actions against the impact of climate change on coral reefs.