People

As Full Professor of Zoology, I am interested in the taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution of Collembola, as well as in the radiation of early hexapod lineages. I have participated to several campaigns of the Italian Antarctic Research Project to study the biogeography of Antarctic springtails. I am also involved in research on the monitoring of mosquitoes in Tuscany. 

I'm Full Professor in Zoology and chairman of the teaching committee for the Master's Degree in Biology. My research focuses on the study of Antarctic invertebrate biodiversity and on the phylogeny of early-diverging hexapod lineages. I'm currently running a project on the invasive insect pest Popillia japonica and have a deep interest in the molecular evolution of the mitochondrial genome.

I am Associate Professor of Genetics. My research focuses on the use of molecular markers and bioinformatic tools to address questions in evolutionary genetics, population genomics, patterns of geographic differentiation, biological invasions of species of agricultural importance. I am part of the teaching committee for the Degree in Biological Sciences and the Master in Bioinformatics and data science.

As Associate Professor in entomology, my research interests cover a broad range of insect-related topics from biodiversity to applied entomology. Over the last few years, I took part in projects on insect systematics, habitat conservation, and management of alien species. I am particularly interested in predatory and parasitoid insect lineages, especially Neuroptera and Diptera, investigating their past and present diversity using a multidisciplinary approach to unveil their evolution and to understand their prominence in modern ecosystems, both natural and managed ones.

I am a biologist, specialist in Applied Genetics and with a PhD in Applied Neurobiology. For many years my work has focused on the study of the human mitochondrial diseases, tcharacterized by defects in oxidative phosphorylation and caused by mutations in genes in the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. I have recently turned my focus to studying the evolution of invertebrate lineages using mitochondrial markers and supporting genomic analyses of pest insects. My role within ESZ lab is also dedicated to the organization and coordination of the lab activities and to support the teaching staff.

I am an evolutionary biologist, working on the systematics and ecology of the so-called Darwin's wasps, Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae. My research focuses on the study of parasitoid communities in fragmented landscapes, with particular interest in anthropogenic habitats such as vineyards and olive groves.

I am a naturalist, member of National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC). In particular, my research focuses on systematics and ecology of springtails (Collembola). I am interested in using these organisms as biological indicators in several environments, along different ecological gradients, from glacial and periglacial habitats, to caves and to managed agricultural landscapes, especially olive groves and vineyards. I use both morphological approaches and molecular ones.

My research focuses on the study of soil arthropod communities from natural and disturbed habitats to evaluate the relationships between antropogenic impacts and environmental quality. I am also interested in the study of the ultrastructural features of heavy metal compartmentalization and elimination mechanisms in specimens belonging to soil fauna through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray microanalysis.

I am a young post-doc researcher with experience in molecular biology as well bioinformatics. Though I have previously focused on biodiversity and phylogenesis of Collembola and basal hexapods, my current project, funded by the IPM-Popillia consortium, aims to study the invasive pest under a genomic and transcriptomic point of views. 

I'm a post-doc researcher with a background in molecular biology. During my PhD my main focus was the study of the phylogeography of the invasive insect Popillia japonica and the reconstruction of its pathways of spread and invasion. This has allowed me to engage in both field and laboratory work, while also developing some bioinformatics skills. I'm currently working on INF-ACT, a project on the monitoring of mosquitoes and sandflies in Tuscany.

I am a biologist with a Master Degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. My PhD project focuses on the analysis of the beetles' gut microbiome and its role to decompose polystyrene waste in an eco-sustainable way.

I am a biologist with a Master Degree in Biodiversity and a wide range of research experience studying species across many taxa. My PhD project uses molecular approaches to understand the evolution and diversity of springtails and mites in Antarctica.

As as former associate Professor of Zoology, my work focuses on springtail taxonomy and biogeography, with incursions into cytogenetics, reproduction biology and the study of sperm morphology. I use traditional as well as SEM/TEM electron microscopy. I have described several new species of springtails from different environments and regularly collaborate to faunistic studies from Antarctica rocky shores to Mediterranean sand dunes.

I’m a post-doc researcher and my academic background and my career in scientific research is focused on genomics and bioinformatics. During the PhD I've been studying repetitive sequences and Transposable Elements in plant genome structures. I also worked on genome assemblies, identification of SNV/SVs in plants organisms  and carried out metagenomics analysis. Currently, I’m working at the project “MitoMicro” which focuses on the study of small, highly-trascribed RNAs produced by mitochondrial genomes acting as regulators on nuclear transcripts in animal species.

I have a Master Degree in Conservation and Environment of the Nature and my PhD project is focused on the biodiversity of antarctic springtails and mites endangered by climate changes, using a combination of molecular and morphological analyses.

I’m a naturalist with a Master Degree in Conservation and Environment of the Nature. My PhD project is on the application of molecular tools to study historic and recent pathways of entry and spread for pest beetle Popillia japonica.

The goal of my PhD project is to develop new molecular tools to help growers in the selection of new, high performant and stable varieties of Cannabis sativa to be used at industrial level, and to define the role of CNVs and microbiota in the determination of phenotypic traits of commercially important plants.