Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi

Insegnamenti

• Biologia animale (SVB0115_CN)
  Corso di laurea Scienze delle Attività Motorie e Sportive L-22 - Cuneo
• Biologia della Fauna selvatica (SVB0201)
  Scienze Naturali, Scienze dei Sistemi Naturali,
  Evoluzione del comportamento animale e dell’uomo
• Ecologia dei cambiamenti climatici (SVB0203)
  Laurea magistrale in Biologia dell'Ambiente
• Ecologia dei cambiamenti climatici (SVB0251)
  Laurea magistrale in Biologia dell'Ambiente
• Gestione e tutela degli ecosistemi fluviali (SVB0235)
  Scienze Naturali, Scienze dei Sistemi Naturali,
  Evoluzione del comportamento animale e dell’uomo
• Zoologia sistematica con Laboratorio (Corso B) (MFN0692)
  Scienze Naturali, Scienze dei Sistemi Naturali,
  Evoluzione del comportamento animale e dell’uomo

Temi di ricerca

Membro di Alpstream - Centro per lo studio dei fiumi alpini

Research interest

My research focuses on freshwater fauna and environments. I faced issues related to both basic (with studies in systematics, ecology, biology and biogeography of some groups of aquatic insects and fish) and applied research (such as the development and application of biological monitoring systems in Italy and in some Neotropical countries). My most recent research interests concentrated on:

• Effect of climate change on lotic invertebrates. Stream ecosystems have been recognized as extremely sensitive to climate change, because of the raising of water temperatures and the disruption of hydrologic cycles. In this field, I realized several studies, mainly focused to analyse the consequence of the drought increase in previously perennial Alpine streams.
• Biomonitoring of environmental quality. One of the most applied aspects of my research is the assessment of environmental quality through the analysis of invertebrate community composition and structure. In this context, I have a great experience on biomonitoring in lotic environments, with sampling campaigns realized in several problematic Italian areas (such as ‘Terra dei Fuochi, Campania), Spain, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua.
• Impact of anthropogenic disturbance in running waters. After many years working on the impact of chemical alterations on stream fauna, at present I am increasingly interested in the assessment and understanding of morpho-hydrological alterations, such as clogging in alpine environments.
• No-kill fly fishing in the Alps as a tool to combine conservation of natural salmonid populations, environmental protection, sporting activity, naturalistic knowledge and local economic development through sustainable tourism.

I am one of the founders of the Alpine Stream Research Center (ALPSTREAM), a structure recently born in Ostana (Cottian Alps, NW Italy) from the collaboration between the Monviso Natural Park, the University of Turin, the University of Piemonte Orientale, the Polytechnic of Turin and recently financed by an INTERREG project.

Awards and Honors

• Premio Exploit 2017, for scientific divulgation, Università del Piemonte Orientale
• Premio Michele Lessona, Natural History Museum of Torino and Regione Piemonte (2012)
• Special Mention Award of the SITE - Italian Society of Ecology (2005)
• Premio Marchetti of the SITE - Italian Society of Ecology (2003)

Third Mission

I have always been very interested in third mission. I have a long history of teaching and educational collaborations with schools, parks and museums. Moreover, for my research results, I was interviewed by REPORT / RAI3, TG1 / RAI 1, UnoMattina / RAI 1, RAI3 / Leonardo, RAI2 and National Geographic. My researches and interviews have appeared in La Stampa, La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero and numerous other newspapers.

Editorial activity

• Editor, THE EUROPEAN ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL (ISSN 1125-0003 Print, 1748-5851 Online)
• Associate Editor, JOURNAL OF LIMNOLOGY (eISSN 1723-8633)
• Member of the Editorial board, AQUATIC INSECTS (ISSN 0165-0424 Print, 1744-4152 Online)
• Member of the Editorial board, BOLETÍN DE LA ASOCIACIÓN ESPAŇOLA DE ENTOMOLOGÍA (ISSN 0210-8984)
• Referee for 54 scientific journals

Progetti di ricerca

• LIFE Minnow

Attività in agenda

Consulta la mia agenda

Organi

• Consiglio di Dipartimento

• Commissione Monitoraggio e Riesame
• Comunicazione docenti a.a. 2022/23
• Consiglio di Corso di Laurea in Scienze delle Attività Motorie e Sportive L-22

Ricevimento studenti