Scholar

I currently hold a research grant at the Institute for Mediterranean Agricultural and Forestry Systems (CNR-ISAFOM headquarters in Portici) as part of the “Ferrero - Agreement Hazelnuts” project. My research activity investigates the interaction between biotic damage induced by Halyomorpha halys, the phenology of the core and the associated microbiota, through molecular biology and microbiology approaches, with the aim of better understanding the qualitative characters and damage dynamics.

From 2022 to 2025, I was a PhD student (cycle XXXVIII) in the National PhD in Artificial Intelligence (Agrifood and Environment area). My research project focused on the implementation of Artificial Intelligence tools and predictive models for sustainable agriculture, integrating heterogeneous data (monitoring, field measurements, biological and microbiological data) to build reproducible workflows useful for decision support. A central component of my work involves analysing complex microbiological datasets (including soil microbial community data) and developing analysis pipelines in Python for extracting robust biological signals and producing interpretable outputs.

I consolidated my experimental skills in microbiology during a research period abroad at the University of Salamanca (Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Microbiology and Genetics), carrying out isolation and characterisation of fungi and bacteria from different matrices, using molecular biology (DNA extraction, gene amplification, identification) and metagenomics approaches.

The research activity is accompanied by scientific production (publications and conference contributions) on applications of artificial intelligence to microbiome analysis and microbial dynamics in agricultural systems.

In the course of my research experience, I have developed skills in:

• Molecular biology and microbiology: DNA extraction, PCR, electrophoresis, microbial cultures (fungi and bacteria), NGS workflows (e.g. Oxford Nanopore/Illumina) and downstream bioinformatics analysis.
• Field activities and plant protection: monitoring and sampling, damage assessment and sample collection/management along the phenological phases.
• Data analysis and scientific computing: Statistical and multivariate analyses with Python/R/SPSS; management of complex datasets (agronomic, phenological, microbiological) and advanced visualisations (PCA, heatmap, clustering, LDA).
• Scientific communication and outreach: organising and conducting dissemination and educational activities at scientific events.