WORK EXPERIENCE
09/2022 – Ongoing Adjunct professor, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
I am teaching nature conservation and ecosystem restoration within the "Planning and management of agro-territorial ecosystems, forests and landscape" study program of the Agricultural and Food Science Department.
10/2021 – Ongoing; Research fellow, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
My field of research deals with the macroecology of Mediterranean island vegetation, with a focus on conservation biogeography in the context of the project 'PON-IR LifeWatch PLUS' of LifeWatch Italy.
04/2021 – 11/2021; Consultant, Forest Modelling Lab, Italian National Research Council, Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Systems of the Mediterranean (ISAFOM), Remote, Italy
I investigated the effects of climate change and management on the structure and functions of European forests stands, in the context of the 'Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project' (ISIMIP), with a focus on Southern Italian pine forests.
11/2017 – 04/2021; PhD in Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
I developed a methodology to delineate global alpine environments (i.e., mountain areas above the natural treeline) at 30 m spatial resolution and performed their bioclimatic characterization. Furthermore, I built a global dataset of alpine vegetation plots by collecting and harmonizing data from different sources. With these data, I analysed taxonomic and functional diversity patterns of global alpine vegetation and investigated their relationships with environment, geography, and biogeographic history.
09/2016 – 07/2017; Research assistant, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
I analysed the relationships between forest management intensity and stand structural diversity using a large dataset of forest plots established by the department of forest inventory and remote sensing in the context of the 'Biodiversity Exploratories' project. I also drafted a research proposal to be submitted to the DFG about forest biodiversity estimation through remote sensing for sampling design optimization.
07/2016 – 08/2016; Consultant, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
I performed photointerpretation data harvesting through the Open Foris Collect Earth platform in the context of the 'Global LULUCF Assessment' project.
03/2016 – 08/2016; Research assistant, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
I was involved in the project named 'Tools and methodologies for the integration of floral biodiversity indicators into Papua New Guinea's national forest inventory'. I contributed to the development of a survey methodology for non-tree plant diversity assessment integrated with the new Papua New Guinea's national forest inventory. I assisted in the training of the local staff during February 2016 field training session in Madang province (Papua New Guinea) and drafted the mission report.
01/2015 –12/2015; Intern, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
I developed my Master thesis into two scientific peer-reviewed journal articles. I collected information on the state of implementation of national REDD+ initiatives at the global scale, with a focus on the implementation of biodiversity safeguards. I collaborated on the drafting of a FAO publication and designed maps using QGIS. I collaborated on the global dryland forests assessment in the context of the Global Forest Survey project.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
04/2015; Global Forest Survey Project, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
Training course on the use of the Open Foris Collect Earth.
10/2012 – 10/2014; MSc Ecology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Master Thesis: Investigating the effect of past logging and the optimal sampling design in the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea
Description: I analysed forest plot data to study the effect of selective logging on forest biodiversity and structure accounting for different vegetation types and to identify an efficient sampling design for the new national forest inventory.
10/2009–09/2012; BSc Biology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Bachelor thesis: Demographic analysis of the populations of Saxifraga berica (Bég.) D. A. Webb
Description: I collected field data (number, size and growth stage of individuals) on the populations of the endemic species Saxifraga berica in the Colli Berici area close to Lumignano (Vicenza, Italy) to perform a preliminary assessment of the species' conservation status.
