TRAINING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Education and qualifications
- 1982 - 1988: MSc in Agricultural Sciences
- 1990 - 1992: Fellowships at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine. Research topic: soil genesis and evolution
- 1993 - 1994: Fellowships at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Nutrizione delle Piante (CRA), Gorizia Research Unit (Italy). Research topic: agronomic and environmental evaluation of organic residues
- 1995 - 1996: Contract at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Nutrizione delle Piante (CRA), Gorizia Research Unit (Italy). Research topic: size, activity and composition of microbial biomass in soil, organic residues and compost
Current job
Researcher at the Centro di Ricerca per lo Studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (RPS-CRA), Gorizia Research Unit (Italy).
Training periods abroad
- May-August 1992 and July 1993: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, University of Granada (Spain) (Funding: University of Granada) Research topic: genesis and clay mineralogy of "Terre Rosse"
- August 1997 and October-November 1998: Agriculture and Environment Division, Rothamsted Research (Harpenden, England) (Funding: Italian National Research Council - CNR) Research topic: microbial biomass survival strategies
- June 1999 and October-November 2000: Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck (Austria) (Funding: COST action 831 and OECD) Research topic: dynamics of microbial communities during composting
Coordination of research projects
Responsible of Gorizia Operative Unit for the following research projects:
- Biological fertility restoration in soils highly polluted by heavy metals (Funding: Italian Ministry for University and Science; period: 2002)
- Innovative procedures for sustainable recycling of organic residues (Funding: Italian Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry; period: 2002-2005)
Organization of scientific conferences
- Head of the organizing committee of the workshop "Soils and waste management: a challenge to climate change" (Gorizia - Italy, 15-16 June 2006) sponsored by the Co-Operative Research Programme of OECD
Teaching and training activity
- Research responsible for two post doctoral fellowships (2005-2007)
- Teaching, training and exams for the courses of Geo-pedology, Soil Chemistry, Fertilizer Chemistry, Chemistry and Biochemistry of Pollutants at the University of Udine (1992-present)
- Training in Soil Chemistry and Biochemistry for secondary school students (2003-2007)
Reviewing activity
- Ad hoc reviewer for the following journals: Waste management, Geoderma, Process Biochemistry, Chemosphere, Bioresource Technology, Canadian Journal of Soil Science
- Guest editor for a special issue of the journal Waste Management.
Memberships
- Italian Society of Soil Science (SISS), Italian Society of Agricultural Chemistry (SICA), International Scientific Centre of Fertilizers, Italian National Branch (CIEC).