Fabio Sgolastra

Education
2001: Degree in Natural Sciences, University of Bologna
2007: Doctorate in Agricultural Entomology, University of Bologna

Career/Professional positions

2008-2012: Research scholarship/Post-doc research fellow (University of Bologna)

2013-2014: Post-doc research fellow at CRA-API (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura - Unità di Ricerca di Apicoltura e Bachicoltura)

2014-2021: Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna

2021-: Associate Professor, University of Bologna

Visiting fellow
2002-2005: 13 months at the USDA-ARS Bee Biology & Systematics Laboratory and Utah State University, Logan UT, USA

2016: One week as visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade in the framework of the Erasmus+ for Staff Mobility for Teaching Programme

Activities and responsibilities

Accademic institutional activities

• Member of the Internship Committee of DISTAL. Coordinator: Prof. Elisabetta Frascaroli

• Member of the Faculty – Students Peer Committee of DISTAL. Coordinator: Prof. Claudio Marzadori

Network/committee/panel activities

• Member ofthe COLOSS Research network in Prevention of Colony Losses (2009 – now) (www.coloss.org) ;
• Member of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) Working Group Bee Risk Assessment (PPR) (2011-2012) for the development of the “Scientific Opinion on the science behind the development of a risk assessment of Plant Protection Products on Bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees).
• Member of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) Working Group Bee Risk Assessment (PRAS) (2012-2013) for the development of the “Guidance Document on the Risk Assessment of Plant Protection Products on Bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees)”;
• Member of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) Working Group Beehave Model Evaluation (2015) for the development of the “Statement on the suitability of the BEEHAVE model for its potential use in a regulatory context and for the risk assessment of multiple stressors in honeybees at the landscape level”
• Member of the management committee of SUPER-B “Sustainable pollination in Europe - joint research on bees and other pollinators” Cost Action FA 1307 (2014-2018)
• EPI-Focus Group “Bee health and sustainable beekeeping” (2019-2020) (https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/focus-groups/bee-health-and-sustainable-beekeeping)
• Member of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) Working Group on HMF in bees for the development of a scientific opinion on the impact of HMF in feed for honeybees (2020- )

• XXIX Congresso degli apicoltori professionisti italiani, Amantea (CS), 5-10 febbraio 2013.Title presentation: “Dibattito EFSA sulle procedure autorizzative dei pesticidi: dalle linee guida EPPO al documento guida dell’EFSA per la valutazione del rischio sulle api”.
• EFSA Scientific Colloquium XVIII “On towards holistic approaches to the risk assessment of multiple stressors in bees. Parma, 15-16 May 2013.Title presentation: “The risk assessment of stressors in bees: a multi-level approach”.
• EFSA Scientific Workshop “Guidance Document on the Risk Assessment of Plant Protection Products on Bees”. Parma, 9 September 2013. Title presentation: “Non-Apis bees testing and risk assessment”.
• 43° International Apicultural Congress Apimondia. Kiev, 29 September – 4 October 2013. Round Table “Bees and Pesticides”. Title presentation: “Bee Emergency Service Team (BEST) in the Italian monitoring project BeeNet”.
• ESOF 2014 (EuroScience Open Forum), Copenhagen, 25 June 2014. Special Event:Science and safe food: the role of risk assessment The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Title presentation: What is killing bees? Can science solve the puzzle?
• XXV Congresso Nazionale Italiano di Entomologia, Padova, 20-24 giugno 2016. Titolo intervento: “Effetti degli stress multipli sulle api: dalle evidenze in campo alle conferme in laboratorio”
• 7th European Conference of Apidology EURBEE, Cluj-Napoca, 7-9 September 2016. Titolo intervento: “Synergistic effects of a neonicotinoid and an EBI fungicide in honey bees, bumblebees and red mason bees”
• Workshop “Pesticide Exposure Assessment Paradigm for non-Apis bees”. EPA, Washington DC (USA), 7-9 January 2017. Titolo intervento: “Biology and life history traits of solitary bees”
• Neonicotinoids: Is a Total Ban in Sight?, European Parlament, Brussels (Belgium), 7 novembre 2017. Titolo presentazione: “Mixing drinks: effects of neonicotinoid and fungicide cocktails on bees”
• ECE 2018 - XI European Congress of Entomology, Napoli (Italy), 2-6 July 2018. Title presentation: “Effects of pesticide cocktails on bees”. Moderator of the session 5: Ecology and toxicology of insecticides - Insecticide toxicology and non target effects

Editorial activity
Bulletin of Insectology (Executive Editor); Insects (Editorial Board); Frontiers in Agronomy (Review Editor). Attività di revisore per riviste scientifiche: ACS Omega, Apidologie, Archives of Biological Sciences, Belgium Journal of Zoology, Biological Conservation, Bulletin of Insectology, Chemosphere, Climate change, Ecotoxicology, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Entomologia generalis, Environmental Entomology, Environment International, Environmental Pollution, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Environmental Science & Technology, Environmental Toxicology, Ethology, Insects, International Journal for Parasitology Parasites and Wildlife, Journal for Nature Conservation, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Apicultural Research, Journal of Apicultural Science, Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of Economic Entomology, Journal of Insect Physiology, Journal of Visualized Experiments, PeerJ, Pest Management Science, Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, Physiological Entomology, Phytoparasitica, PlosGenetics, PlosOne, Rejuvenation Research, Science of the Total Environment, Scientific Reports, Sociobiology

Expert for funding agencies
NCN (National Science Centre, Poland http://www.ncn.gov.pl)

ARRS (Slovenian Research Agency, Slovenia)

UK Research and Innovation-BBSRC, UK (www.ukri.org)

Latvian Council of Science, Latvian

Honours and awards

2003: "AISASP (Associazione Italiana per lo Studio degli Artropodi Sociali e Presociali)" Award from the IUSSI (International Union for the Study of Social Insects) Italian section;

2007: “Anita Vecchi” Award from the Academy of Sciences of the University of Bologna;

2010: “Marco Osella” Award from the National Academy of Entomology

2015: "EFSA Young Researcher Initiative Award". Abstract selected for a poster presentation in the EFSA’s 2^nd Scientific Conference “Shaping the Future of Food Safety, Together” (Milan, Italy, from 14-16 October 2015).

Research projects

2003: "Agrisos" project funded by Consorzio Spinner with the European Social Fund.

2004: Impact of genetically-modified plants on the populations of arthropods and other invertebrates in agroecosystems funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory. [Member of the Research Team]

2004-2005: Honey bees as biomonitoring agents of Benzo[a]pyrene in the city of Ascoli Piceno. Province of Ascoli Piceno. [Member of the Research Team]

2005-07: “Bees and Agrochemicals” project funded by the Center for Research and Plant Production of the Emilia-Romagna region. [Member of the Research Team]

2008-09: APIPOP project “An integrated model for honeybee population dynamics and hive management” funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). [Member of the Research Team]

2009-11: Development National Project APENET funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture. Study of lethal and sublethal (learning capacity, memory, spatial orientation, homing ability) effects of pesticides on bee. [Member of the Research Team]

2012-14: BEENET project “BEENET: apiculture and environment in network”. [Member of the Research Team]

2011-15: PP-ICON project “Plant-Pollinator Integrated CONservation approach: a demonstrative proposal” funded bythe European Commission under the Framework Programme 7 (FP7). The project focuses on the conservation of the locally rare plant (Dyctamnus albus L.) and the community of its natural pollinators. [Member of the Research Team]

2012-15: AMIGA project “Assessing and Monitoring the Impacts of Genetically modified plants on Agro-ecosystems” is a European project funded by the European Commission under the Framework Programme 7 (FP7), aiming at producing scientific data related to the possible environmental and economic impacts of cultivation of genetically modified plants (GMPs), relevant to European environments. [Member of the Research Team]

2017-20: SEGAE project “Development of a SErious Game for digital learning in AgroEcology in Europe” in the framework of Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships – call 2017. [Member of the Research Team]

2019: Testing lethal and sub-lethal synergistic effects of Succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicides on solitary bees. Research activity funded by the French Association POLLINIS. [Scientific Referent]

2019-23: LIFE4POLLINATORS (2019-2023) funded by the European Commission LIFE+ project (LIFE18 GIE/IT/000755). [Resarch Unit Co-coordinator]

2020: Testing lethal and sub-lethal synergistic effects of a fungicide-insecticide mixture on provision microflora and larval development of a solitary bee (2020). Research activity funded by the French Association POLLINIS. [Scientific Referent]

2021-22: "Ogni Ape Conta" (Every bee matters) project. Monitoring the agricultural environment with bees. Research activity funded by LIFEGATE, with the partecipation of Coop Italia e CONAPI. [Scientific Referent]

2022-23: Agroecosistemi innovativi ad alta BiodiveRsItà per potenziare l’impOllinazione (BRIO). Project call Alma Idea 2022 University of Bologna funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU. [Project Coordinator]

2022-23: I-PolERA. Tender EFSA OC/EFSA/ED/2021/01 Lot 1 “Advancing the environmental risk assessment of chemicals for insect pollinators” [Coordinator of the Resarch Unit]

2022-26: DREAM - Diversified orchards for REsilient and sustAinable Mediterranean farming systems. PRIMA Programme section 2 supported by Horizon 2020. [Member of the Research Team]

2023-2025: POLYPOLL - An interdisciplinary approach to unravel the effects of combined exposure to chemical pollutants on insect pollinators. Project PRIN 2022 NextGenerationEU. Project code: 2022MWASET. [Coordinator]

2023-2025: AEM-POLLY - Assessing the effectiveness of mitigation measures on pollinator decline: an integrated multi-biomarker approach. Project PRIN 2022 PNRR NextGenerationEU. Project code:P2022YWSSX. [Responsabile di unità di ricerca].

2024-2027: PollinERA - Understanding pesticide-Pollinator interactions to support EU Environmental Risk Assessment and policy. Horizon Europe Project. [WP leader and Responsible of Research Unit].