Alessandro Chiarucci

1. General information

1.1. Biosketch
I am botanist and ecologist, with interests in vegetation science, community ecology, biogeography, and biodiversity assessment.
I consider Science as a contribution to a healthy, prosperous and peaceful Human Society, both in terms of knowledge building and cooperation.
My research mission is to understand the patterns and processes of species assembly in relation to spatial and temporal scales, to improve the methods for assessing species diversity and to transfer such knowledge to applied to the management and conservation policies.

1.2. Personal data
Born in Poggibonsi, Siena, Italy on 1966 February 8th
Nationality: Italian
Civil status: Married with one daughter

1.3. Work addresses
BIGEA, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences
Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna
Via Irnerio 42, 40126, Bologna, Italy
e-mail: alessandro.chiarucci@unibo.it

1.4. Education

• Scientific High School Licence on June 1984 at the Liceo Scientifico “Alessandro Volta” di Colle Val d'Elsa, Siena, Italy with a vote of 50/60.
• University Degree (Laurea) in Natural Sciences on 1990 July 17 at the “Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences” of the University of Siena, with a dissertation in botany (Supervisor Prof. Vincenzo De Dominicis).
• PhD in Environmental Biology, during the period 1994-1996 at the Department of Environmental Biology of the University of Siena. Thesis (Ecology, diversity and conservation of the “serpentine” plant communities of Tuscany) defended in 1997 at the University of Genoa (National Evaluation Committee N. 798/Ecology).

1.5. Foreign languages
Good Knowledge of written and spoken English. Basic elements of Spanish and French.

1.6. Membership in scientific societies

• International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS)
• International Biogeography Society (IBS)
• Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)
• Società Botanica Italiana (SBI)
• Società Italiana di Ecologia (SItE)
• Società Italiana di Scienza della Vegetazione (SISV)

1.7. Scientometric performances
Scientometric performances according to the ISI Web of Science (2015 Aug 21) are:

Number of papers:               106
Total Number of citation:     1511
Number of citing articles:    1289
h-index:                               22

2. Working positions

• 2014 Nov 03 → Full Professor, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BIGEA), Alma Mater Studiorum- University of Bologna, Scientific Subject BIO/03 – Environmental and Applied Botany.
• 2005 Mar 01 → Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Siena, Itay, Scientific Subject BIO/03 – Environmental and Applied Botany.
• 2001 Sep 01 → Permanent Researcher, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Siena, Italy, Scientific Subject E01D - Plant Ecology (then changed into BIO/03 – Environmental and Applied Botany).
• 1999 Apr 28→ Research specialist, Department of Environmental Biology of the University of Siena, Italy.

3. Scientific Research

3.1. General
My research focuses on the patterns of diversity and composition of species assemblages, at a range of spatial and temporal scales, with a major attention to plant communities.

3.2. International Collaborations
I have a long dating cooperation with several research groups, such as those leaded by:

• Prof. Robert R. Brooks (now passed away) and Prof. Roger Reeves (now retired), Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand;
• Prof. J. Bastow Wilson (now retired), Department of Botany,University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand;
• Prof. José María Fernández-Palacios and José Ramón Arévalo, Departamento de Ecología,Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain;
• Prof. Martin Diekmann, Institut für Ökologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany;
• Prof. Carl Beierkuhnlein, Chair of Biogeography, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany;
• Prof. Anke Jentsch, Disturbance Ecology Group, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany;
• Prof. Kostas A. Triantis, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece;
• Dr. Barbara Jane Anderson, Biodiversity and Conservation Team, Landcare Research, Christchurch, New Zealand;
• Prof. Guillaume Decocq, EDYSAN, écologie et dynamique des systèmes anthropisés, University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France;
• Dr. Sam M. Scheiner, Division of Environmental Biology, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
• Prof. Mike W. Palmer, Department of Botany, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA;
• Prof. Milan Chytry, Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Repubblic;
• Prof. Meelis Pärtel, Macroecology workgroup, University of Tartu, Estonia;
• Prof. Valério De Patta Pillar, Department of ecology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil.
• Prof. Neal J. Enright,School of Anthropology, Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

3.3. Research topics
My main research activities fitted into the following topics.

3.3.1. Basic floristic and vegetation studies
My early research activities focused the description of the flora and vegetation of ecologically and interesting areas of Tuscany and Italy as well as habitats with peculiar geochemical, microclimatic and geomorphologic features (clay soils, ultramafic substrates, geothermal sites). The adopted methods ranged from the classical floristic and phytosociological protocols, to the “space for time substitution” for investigating vegetation dynamics, and to mapping techniques.

3.3.2. Vegetation-environment relationships
One of the most important research subject done in my activity is represented by the investigation of the relations between plant community composition, structure and diversity, on one side, and environmental factors, such as soil, microclimate, stresses, on the other side. These studies were performed mainly in different habitats and ecosystems. I often tried to test the importance of the spatial scales in controlling the determinants of plant communities as well as to introduce new statistical methods and approaches.

3.3.3. Species diversity and spatial scale
Most of the interesting results and innovations of my research came from the study of the effects of spatial scales in controlling species diversity of biological communities. These studies concerned the shapes of species-area relationship (SARs) as well as species accumulation curves (SACs) and the investigation of how these can be used to assess and monitor biological communities responses to management and/or gradients of stress, disturbance or productivity.

3.3.4. Methods for assessing biodiversity
The assessment of biodiversity by means of species diversity is certainly the most important topic in my research activity. These studies focused on the problems associated to the use of existing methods for estimating species richness of large-scale units, such as a nature reserve or a geographic unit, as well as ecological monitoring. I investigated multiple scale methods and different sampling designs to assess and monitoring species richness, as well as indirect methods based on remote sensing and cross-taxon congruency.

3.3.6. Theoretical and conceptual studies on plant communities
I tried to use the data obtained by descriptive or applicative studies to achieve conceptual advancements and models explaining the structure and diversity of plant communities, their functioning and to improve the methodological problems connected with their investigation. I devoted on the methods for species diversity assessment and plant communities sampling, both to contribute to the theory of biodiversity science and to discuss the application problems.

3.3.7. Applications and various researches
I worked in several other directions in both pure and applied science, such as in the use of “serpentine” plants for phytoextraction of metals from soils. Some of these papers still represent a major reference in the International literature.

4. Scientific editing and refereeing activity

4.1. Journal editorial boards and review activity

4.1.1. Editorial boards
I served in the following editorial boards:

• Journal of Vegetation Science (Impact Factor 2013: 3.372): Associate Editor (2002-2005), Chief Editor (2006-ongoing);
• Applied Vegetation Science (Impact Factor 2013: 2,416): Chief Editor (2006-ongoing);
• Community Ecology (Impact Factor 2013: 1,200): Subject Editor (2009-2013)
• Informatore Botanico Italiano: Associate Editor (2006-2008);

I also served as Guest Editor for:

• Plant and Soil (Impact Factor 2013: 3.235): Guest Editor for a s Special Issue titled “Advances in the ecology of serpentine soils” (2007);
• Plant Biosystems (Impact Factor 2012: 1,912): Guest Editor for a Special Issue on “Forests and biodiversity” (2008).

4.1.2. Journal Reviewer activity
I served as referee for the following journals:

• Acta Botanica Gallica
• Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
• American Naturalist
• Animal Conservation
• Applied Vegetation Science
• Biodiversity and Conservation
• Biological Conservation
• Chemosphere
• Community Ecology
• Ecological Applications
• Ecology
• Ecography
• Edinburgh Journal of Botany
• Environemntal Management
• Folia Geobotanica
• Forest Ecology and Management
• Global Ecology and Biogeography
• i-Forest
• Insect Conservation and Diversity
• International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management
• Journal of Applied Ecology
• Journal of Biogeography
• Journal of Ecology
• Journal of Environmental Management
• Journal of Forest Research
• Journal of Limnology
• Journal of Mediterranean Ecology
• Journal of Vegetation Science
• Landscape Ecology
• Methods in Ecology and Evolution
• Northeastern Naturalist
• Oikos
• Plant Biosystems
• Plant Ecology
• Plant Ecology and Diversity
• Plant and Soil
• PLOS One
• Proceeding of the Royal Society London, B
• Rendiconti Lincei
• South African Journal of Science
• Webbia

4.1.3. Grant and Project Reviewer
I served several times as project evaluator for Italian Minister for University and Research MIUR(Programs: PRIN, Futuro in Ricerca, VQR), for the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, for the European Science Foundation, for the South African Research Foundation, for the Georgian National Science Foundation and for the Academy of Finland.

5. Research grants

5.1. Institutional research programs

• EUROPEAN UNION FP6 - RECONDES (Conditions for Restoration and Mitigation of Desertified Areas Using Vegetation). 36 months. Member of the Italian Unit CNR-IRPI;

• EUROPEAN UNION FP7 - EU BON (Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network). 54 months. P.I. Partner TerraData;
• VI Italy-Greece Bilateral Agreement for Scientific Cooperation 2000-2001. 24 months. Project “Studies on plant biodiversity of serpentine areas in Greece - A contribution to conservation and management of their indigenous flora”; 24 months. Italian Project Leader.
• CRUI / DAAD bilateral cooperation projet on "Predictivty of large scale species richness from plot data: a methodological comparison”. 24 months. Italian Project Leader.
• British Council - Researcher Exchange Programme Awards, University of Durham (Novel methods for regional climate change risk assessments). 24 months. Project Partner.
• REGIONE TOSCANA “Studio dei danni alle foreste – MONITO”. 36 months + 24 months. Leader of the the Biodiversity task and then of the whole project;
• Consorzio LAMMA – Regione Toscana (Armonizzazione dei sistemi di monitoraggio dello stato delle foreste nell'ambito della Regione Toscana finalizzata allo svolgimento dei rilievi di biodiversità). 12 months. Scientific Responsibe.
• University of Siena PAR 2001 (Assessment and Analysis of Biodiversity Indicators in Forest Ecosystems). 24 mesi. Project Coordinator;
• University of Siena PAR 2003 (Cross-Taxon Congruence of Biodiversity in Key Taxa). 24 mesi Project Coordinator;
• University of Siena PAR 2005 (Development of Methods for Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring in Network of Protected Areas). 24 mesi. Project Coordinator

5.2. Research applied to environmental consultancy
In the period 1994-2014 I coordinated or participated to several consultancy activities done by the University of Siena in the field of biodiversity conservation, forest management and monitoring, nature reserve planning for the following Public Administrations:

• Tuscan Regional Administration;
• Regional Park of Maremma;
• Provincial Administration of Siena, Arezzo and Grosseto;
• Regional Estate Consortium (Consorzio Demanio Regionale - CO.DE.RE.);
• LaMMA, Laboratory of monitoring and Environmental Modelling for Sustainable Development (Consortium between Tuscan Regional Administration and National Council for Research);
• Mountain Community of Monte Cetona (Siena);
• Municipalities of Colle Val d'Elsa (Siena) and Cinigiano (Grosseto);

6. International mobility and international conference keynotes

6.1. Research periods abroad

• 2009 June-September: Invited visiting professor at the Department of Ecologia, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain;
• 2010 August-September: Invited visiting professor at the Department of Ecologia, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain;
• 2013 February-March Invited visiting Professor at the Research Group EDYSAN - Ecologie et dynamique des systèmes anthropisés, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, Francia;
• 2013 April. Visiting Professor at the Center for Theretical Studies, University Charles of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.

5.2. Teaching periods abroad

• 2008 April: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Erasmus Theaching Mobility.
• 2009 May: Institut für Ökologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany. Erasmus Theaching Mobility;
• 2010 March: Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masarykova Univerzita, Brno, Czech Republic. Erasmus Theaching Mobility;
• 2010 May: Master Universitario en Biodiversidad, Funcionamiento y Gestión de Ecosistemas, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Bilbao, Spain. Invited Teaching.
• 2011 April: Summer School in “Biodiversity of Islands in the Face of Climate Change” in La Palma, Spain, University of Bayreuth, Germany. Invited Teaching;
• 2011 May: Master Universitario en Biodiversidad, Funcionamiento y Gestión de Ecosistemas, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Bilbao, Spain. Invited Teaching;
• 2011 June-July: Greek Summer School in Conservation Biology, Εrasmus Intensive Programme, Papingo, Zagori, Greece. Professor and School organiser;
• 2012 March: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, Erasmus Theaching Mobility;
• 2012 May: Master Universitario en Biodiversidad, Funcionamiento y Gestión de Ecosistemas, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Bilbao, Spain. Invited Teaching;
• 2012 June-July: Greek Summer School in Conservation Biology, Εrasmus Intensive Programme, Papingo, Zagori Greece. Professor and School organiser;
• 2013 September: Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masarykova Univerzita, Brno, Czech Republic, Erasmus Theaching Mobility
• 2014 February: Summer School in “Biodiversity of Islands in the Face of Climate Change” in La Palma, Spain, University of Bayreuth, Germany. Invited Teaching;
• 2014 June-July: Greek Summer School in Conservation Biology, Εrasmus Intensive Programme, Ano Pedina, Zagori, Greece. Professor and School organiser;

6.3. Keynote talks at major international conferences
I gave several contributed talks and invited talks. The most relevant ones are the following keynote talks give in major international conferences

• 2009 May 30 – June 4, 52ndSymposium of the IAVS (International Association for Vegetation Science), Chania, Greece 2009;
• 2011 January 7-11, 5thBiennial Conference of the IBS (International Biogeography Society), Irakleion, Greece.

7. Boards and Council

• 1996: Council member of the Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanica Society;
• 1999: Council member of the Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanica Society;
• 2007: Member of the Advisory Council of the IAVS International Association for Vegetation Science;
• 2008: Member of the Scientific Commitee of the Maremma Natural Park;
• 2008: Member of the Scientific Commitee of the Migliarino, San Rossore and Massaciuccoli Natural Park;
• 2011: Member of the Advisory Council della International Association for Vegetation Science.
• 2015: Member of the Advisory Counsil of the Italian Botanical Society.

8. Organisation of scientific events

8.1. National events

• 1997 June, Siena: organisation of the annual meeting of the Società Italiana di Fitosociologia and subsequent field trip, Universityof Siena;
• 1997 December, Ancona: organiser of the Course “Introduzione all'analisi multivariata dei sistemi ecologici”, Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanical Society and University of Ancona;
• 1997 August, Florence and Siena: organiser of the field trip for the Workshop “Badland processes and significance in changing environments” after the Meeting IGU / GERTEC, Istituto per la Genesi e l'Ecologia del Suolo del C.N.R., Firenze e Siena, 1997;
• 1998 June, Bellinzona (Switzerland): organiser of the Meeting “Dendroecologia applicata allo studio dell'evoluzione naturale dei castagneti abbandonati”, Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanica Society and WSL Bellinzona;
• 1999 February, Siena: organiser of the course “Fondamenti di metodologia statistica per l'analisi dei sistemi ecologici (theacher Prof. Jan Lepš, Czech Academy of Science). Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanical Society and University of Siena;
• 2001 June 30 – July 1: organiser of the workshop "Gestione attiva e conservazione della Biodiversità in Aree Protette: analisi e interventi in ecosistemi forestali", Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanical Society and Regional Park of Aveto (Genova, Italy), 30/6-1/7 2001;
• 2002 January 25th: organiser of the meeting on “Risposte dei vegetali ai cambiamenti ambientali: dagli organismi alle comunità”, Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanical Society and University of Bologna.
• 2008 March 7th ,Siena: Organiser of the workshop "Quality Assurance nei dati ambientali. Quanto sono affidabili i dati di monitoraggio ai fini della gestione delle risorse naturali?”. University of Siena and TerraData Environmetrics;
• 2008 February 27-29, Ravenna: Member of the Scientific Committee of the 44th Congress of the “Italian Society for Vegetation Science”. University of Bologna;
• 2008 February 4-8, Siena: organiser of the course “Statistics for Botanists and Ecologists”(teacher Prof. Jan Lepš , University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic). Working Group for Ecology of the Italian Botanical Society, University of Siena and TerraData Environmetrics.

8.2. International events

• 2000 May, Siena: Member of the Scientific Committee of the Section “Inference on biological populations” of the 5th International Meeting “Quantitative methods for Appied Sciences”. University of Siena;
• 2006 May 9-13, Siena: Organiser of the “Fifth International Conference on Serpentine Ecology”. University of Siena;
• 2009 May 30 – June 4, Chania, Greece: Member of the Scientific Committee of the 52nd IAVS (International Association for Vegetation Science) Symposium on “Vegetation processes and human impact in a changing world”;
• 2010 April 18 – 23, Ensenada, Mexico: Member of the Scientific Committee of the 53nd IAVS (International Association for Vegetation Science) Symposium on “Changing Gradients in Vegetation and the Environment”
• 2012 July 23-28, Mokpo, South Korea: Member of the Scientific Committee of the 55nd IAVS (International Association for Vegetation Science) Symposium on “Climate change and vegetation Science”.

9. Teaching Activities

9.1. University teaching at the University of Siena

• Plant Ecology I and Plant Ecology II (6 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage”, Academic Years 2001/02, 2002/03, 2003/04;
• Vegetation Science (4 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage”, Academic Years 2001/02;
• Biodiversity Facets for the bachelor Degree (Laurea Triennale) in “Natural Sciences”, Academic Year 2001/02;
• Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring (6 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage”, and the Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) in “Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution”, Academic Years 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/2008, 2008/209, and for the Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) in “Biodiversity and Nature Conservation”, Academic Years 2009/2010, 2010-2011 e 2011-2012;
• Plants and Environmental Monitoring (6 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) in “Technologies of Environmental Monitoring and Recovery”, Academic year 2004/05;
• Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring (6 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) in “Technologies of Environmental Monitoring and Recovery; Academic Years 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/2008, 2008/2009;
• Vegetation Science (3 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage”, Academic Years 2004/05, 2005/06;
• Conservation on plant Biodiversity (2 cfu) for the Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) in “Communication in Nature and Environment”, Academic Year 2005/06;
• Plant ecology (3 cfu) for the Bachelor Course (Laurea Triennale) in “Natural Sciences” and the Bachelor Course in “Enviromental Sciences”, Academic Years 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/2009, 2009/2010;
• Plant Diversity (6 cfu) for the Bachelor Course (Laurea Triennale) in “Biological Sciences”, Academic Years 2012/13, 2013/2014;
• Community Ecology (6 cfu) for the Bachelor Course (Laurea Triennale) in “Natural and Environmental Scoiences”, Academic Years 2012/13, 2013/2014.

Student evaluation scores of these theaching course have always been positive and above the Faculty median. Some student evalutatiion scores are public available at the url (http://www3.unisi.it/v0/minisito.html?fld=2583).

9.2. University teaching at the University of Bologna

• Phytogeography (6 cfu) for the Bachelour Course (Laurea Triennale) in “Natural Sciences”, Academic Year 2014/15;
• Basics of Conservation Biology (4 cfu) for the Bachelour Course (Laurea Triennale) in “Biological Sciences”, Academic Year 2014/15;
• Conservation Biology (6 cfu) for the Bachelour Course (Laurea Triennale) in “Environmental Sciences”, Academic Year 2014/15;

9.3. Teaching Management at the University of Siena

• Secretary of the Teaching Committee of the First-Level Degree in “Environmental Sciences”. University of Siena, 2001-04, 2004-07 and 2007-10);
• President of the Teaching Committee of the Second-Level Course in “Management and Conservation of the Natural heritage” University of Siena, 2002-05 and 2005-2009;
• President of the Teaching Committeeof the Second-Level Course in “Biodiversity and Nature Conservation”, University of Siena, 2009-2012;
• Coordinatorof the Section “Evaluation, Monitoring and Conservation of Biodiversity” of the PhD Schoolin “Sciences and Technologies applied to the Environment”, University of Siena, 2004 - 2012.

9.4. International teaching

9.4.1. Coordination of Erasmus Agreements
I have been Coordinatorof the Erasmus agreementsof the University of Sienawith Universities of Coimbra(Portugal), Bremen(Germany), La Laguna(Tenerife, Spain), Copenhagen(Denmark), Granada(Spain) and Brno(Czech Republic).

8.4.2. Erasmus Teaching Mobility
I had several experience of teaching within Erasmus Teaching Mobility:

• 2008 April, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain: (6 h teaching;
• 2009 May, University of Bremen, Institut für Ökologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Bremen, Germany: 6 h teaching;
• 2010 March, Masaryk University Faculty of Science, Department of Botany and Zoology, Brno, Czech Republic: 5 h teaching;
• 2008 March, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain: 6 h teaching;
• 2013 September, Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Department of Botany and Zoology, Brno, Czech Republic: 6 h teaching.

8.4.3. Other relevant teaching
I gave several class and seminars in different places. Among the most relevant teaching activities, I would remember:

• Summer School in “Monitoraggio, valutazione e diagnosi degli Ecosistemi forestali”, Rapolano Terme, Siena. University of Siena, C.N.R. Istituto di Agrometeorologia e Analisi Ambientale applicata all'Agricoltura, Fondazione Meteorologia Applicata di Firenze and LINNÆA ambiente;
• Greek Summer School in “Conservation Biology”, Papigko, Zagori Greece. University of Ioannina within the IP Erasmus and then as a international event of the University of Ioannina. Tens of students from different European and non European countries attended this school. I have been organizer and teacher in 2011 (2 weeks), 2012 (2 weeks) and 2014 (2 weeks). http://www.jmax.gr/gss2014/;
• Máster Universitario en “Biodiversidad, Funcionamiento y Gestión de Ecosistemas”, Bilbao (Spain). I gave classes to this Spanish Master Course 2010 (1 week), 2011 (1 week) and 2012 (1 week). http://www.ehu.es/es/web/masterbiodiversidad/aurkezpena.

9.5. Bachelor and Master students supervision
I tutored several students in different bachelor and master courses. In the last years, I would remember:

• Arianna Vannini, Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) of the University of Siena in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage” (score 110/110 cum Laudem);
• Elisa Santi, Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) of the University of Siena in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Giulia Bennati, Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) of the University of Siena in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage” (score 110/110);
• Sara Ghisleni, Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) of the University of Siena in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Sara Landi, Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) of the University of Siena in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage” (score 110/110 cum Laude)
• Piero Granziera, Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) of the University of Siena in “Technologies for Environmental Monitoring and Restoration” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Elena Santoro, Laurea Degree in “Forestry and Environmental Sciences” of the University of Florence (socre 110/110 cum Laude);
• Martino Chiti, Master Degree (Laurea Specialistica) of the University of Siena in “Technologies for Environmental Monitoring and Restoration” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Alessandra La Torre, Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) of the University of Siena in “Biodiversity and Conservation Biology” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Roberta Covi, Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) of the University of Siena in “Biodiversity and Conservation Biology” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Matteo Marcantonio, Master Degree (Laurea MaAgistrale) of the University of Siena in “Management and Conservation of Natural Heritage” (score 110/110 cum Laude);
• Valentina Gori, Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) of the University of Siena in “Technologies for Environmental Monitoring and Restoration” (score 110/110);
• Francesca Carnesecchi, Master Degree (Laurea Magistrale) of the University of Siena in “Technologies for Environmental Monitoring and Restoration” (score 109/110);
• Maria Grazia Scalzi, Bachelor Degree of the University of Siena in “Natural Sciences” (score100/110);
• Marco D'errico, Bachelor Degree of the University of Siena in “Natural Sciences” (score 96/110);
• Letizia Mecca, Bachelor Degree of the University of Siena in “Natural and Environmental Sciences” (score 101/110);
• Rudy Brogi, Bachelor Degree of the University of Siena in “Natural and Environmental Sciences” (score 110/110);
• Marina Calvello, Bachelor Degree of the University of Siena in “Natural and Environmental Sciences” (score104/110).

 8.6. PhD students
I tutored the following PhD students at the University of Siena:

• Duccio Rocchini (XVII PhD turn); now researcher at the Edmund Mach Foundation, Trento, Italy.
• Giovanni Bacaro (XVII PhD turn); now Associate Professor at the University of Trieste, Italy;
• Francesco Geri (XXI PhD turn); now Post Doc at the University of Trento and private consultant;
• Elisa Baragatti (XXII PhD turn); now private consultant;
• Valerio Amici (XXIV PhD turn); now Post Doc at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and private consultant;
• Sara Landi (XXIV PhD turn); now privte consultant;
• Daniele Giorgini (XXVII Turn); Still PhD student.

In adidtion, I was co-supervisorpresso at the University of Palmerston North (New Zealand) for the PhD di Brett H Robinson (now at the Department of Soil and Physical Sciences, Lincoln University, New Zealand) and at the Otago University of Dunedin (New Zealand) for the PhD of Barbara J. Anderson (now at the Biodiversity and Conservation, Landcare Research, Dunedin, New Zealand).

10. Technological and scientific transfer
I am one of the founding members of TerraData Environmetrics, a successful Spin-Off Company of the University of Siena, working in environmental consultancy, monitoring and planning (www.terradata.it).