Full Professor in Petrography and Petrology (GEO/07) since 2000 at the Department of Earth Sciences, Ferrara University (Italy). The scientific activity is documented by 187 publications, mainly in highly quoted international journals with high IF, 5 special volume and more than 350 abstracts at national and international congresses (Scopus, h-index: 31; cit. 3066, publ. 140).
From the beginning of his career the main research topics are as follows: i) experimental petrology on the structure of silicatic liquids and immiscibility processes in the Fayalite-Leucite-Quartz system in collaboration with Prof. G. Biggar (Edinburgh University) and D. Fraser (Oxford University); ii) Petrology of basic-ultrabasic complexes in the Ivrea-Verbano Zone and in archean greenstone belts from Brazil (Hidrolina, Crixas) and volcano-plutonic complexes from continental and oceanic setting in Italy (Alpi Carniche; Predazzo and Monzoni in the Southern Alps; Vulsini Mts. in Central Italy; Iblean Mts. in Sicily), Brazil (Juquià, Fortaleza), Angola (Tchivira-Bonga), Canary Islands (Tenerife, Fuerteventura) and Antarctica (Mt. Melbourne); iii) Petrology of mantle xenoliths from alkaline lavas and metasomatic processes in the lithospheric continental mantle of Lessini Mts, Iblean Mts. (Italy), Tallante (Spain), Mt.Melbourne (Antarctica) and oceanic mantle of Canary Islands (Lanzarote), Cape Verde, Gran Comores; iv) Petrology of ocean basin basements and ophiolites. The first topic was developed in the framework of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) with participation in Leg 134 (Vanuatu) and collaboration with Legs 124 (Celebes and Sulu Basins) and 131 (Nankay Trough), while the second has been concentrated on peri-Mediterranean (Italy and Albania) and peri-Caribbean (Venezuela, Guatemala, Cuba, Hispaniola and Costa Rica) ophiolitic complexes.
Since 2010 he started to deal with Environmental geochemistry, mainly addressing the excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture in the areas vulnerability to nitrate pollution as the Po Delta (Ferrara Province). He won a LIFE 2010+ project for the use of natural zeolitites (LIFE2010/ENV/IT/000321, ZeoLIFE) to reduce water and fertilization.
Current projects are in collaboration with several Earth Science Departments and Research Centres in Europe and abroad: Dept. of Lithospheric Sciences, Vienna University, Austria (Prof. T. Ntaflos); CNRS. Observatory Midi-Pyrenees, Tolosa, Francia (Dr. M. Gregoire); Universitè Jean Monnet, University Saint Etienne, Francia (Prof. J-Y Cottin); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Budapest (Prof. Harangi S.); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bucarest (Prof. Seghedi I.); School of Earth Science - Birkbeck College, University of London (Prof. H. Downes); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Scotland (Prof. B.G.J. Upton); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway, (Prof. E.-R. Neumann); GEMOC (Centre for Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny Of Continents), Macquarie University, Sydney (Prof. S.O'Reilly, Bill Griffin, Norman Pearson); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Hefei, China (Prof. Xia); Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Nankang University, Taiwan (Dr. K.-L. Wang); Dept. of Earth Sciences, Kanazawa University, Japan (Prof. S. Arai).
He acted as convener of topical symposia or sessions in the following national and international congresses:
1) Annual meeting of Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia (SIMP), “Basic magmatism and mantle sources: petrological and geodynamic aspects”, Ferrara 1991;
2) IGCP n. 256, Tirana (Albania), Ottobre 1992;
3) 1st Italian-Latin American geological meeting, Venezuela e Cuba, Gennaio 1995:
4) Italian-Albanian meeting, Tirana (Albania), Aprile 1996; 5) 32° IGC, Firenze 2004; 6) EGU 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 - Vienna; 7) 1° International Workshop on the Petrology of the European Mantle (EMAW), Ferrara, 2007; 8) Geoitalia 2007, 2009, 2011 – Rimini; 9) 33IGC, Oslo, 2008; 10) 89° SIMP Congress, in collaboration with AIV, SoGeI, and INGV, Ferrara 2010; 11) Golsdschmidt, Firenze 2013.
- He acted as commission member in the final examinations of France, Australian and Poland, as well as in many national, PhD School.
- He won a teaching fellowship at the University of Vienna (Petrology and Volcanology courses).
- Within a collaboration project between Ferrara and Hefei (China) Universities he won a competition for three years PhD fellowship (2006-2008), to study water content in nominally anhydrous minerals in mantle xenoliths from Eastern China and a three years PhD fellowship (2007-2009) from the Italian-French University (Vinci Project) on the topic “Matter transfer in suprasubductive mantle in complex converging systems”.
Dean of the Degree course in Geology from 2002 to 2004; Participants to the XX Italian Expedition to Antarctica; President of the Italian Group of Petrography dal 2009 al 2014. Secretary of the Petrology Section of the GMPV Division of EGU from 2009 to 2012; Coordinator of the PhD School in Science and Technology of Ferrara University since 2009; Counselor of the European Association of Geochemistry during 2012-2013; Member of the High Risk National Commission, Volcanic Section from 2011 to 2017; Coordinator of the Earth and Marine Sciences (EMAS) International PhD course, with double degree shared with the University of Cadiz since 2015; Director of the Higher University Studies Institute (IUSS Ferrara 1391) of Ferrara University since 2016.
From the beginning of his career the main research topics are as follows: i) experimental petrology on the structure of silicatic liquids and immiscibility processes in the Fayalite-Leucite-Quartz system in collaboration with Prof. G. Biggar (Edinburgh University) and D. Fraser (Oxford University); ii) Petrology of basic-ultrabasic complexes in the Ivrea-Verbano Zone and in archean greenstone belts from Brazil (Hidrolina, Crixas) and volcano-plutonic complexes from continental and oceanic setting in Italy (Alpi Carniche; Predazzo and Monzoni in the Southern Alps; Vulsini Mts. in Central Italy; Iblean Mts. in Sicily), Brazil (Juquià, Fortaleza), Angola (Tchivira-Bonga), Canary Islands (Tenerife, Fuerteventura) and Antarctica (Mt. Melbourne); iii) Petrology of mantle xenoliths from alkaline lavas and metasomatic processes in the lithospheric continental mantle of Lessini Mts, Iblean Mts. (Italy), Tallante (Spain), Mt.Melbourne (Antarctica) and oceanic mantle of Canary Islands (Lanzarote), Cape Verde, Gran Comores; iv) Petrology of ocean basin basements and ophiolites. The first topic was developed in the framework of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) with participation in Leg 134 (Vanuatu) and collaboration with Legs 124 (Celebes and Sulu Basins) and 131 (Nankay Trough), while the second has been concentrated on peri-Mediterranean (Italy and Albania) and peri-Caribbean (Venezuela, Guatemala, Cuba, Hispaniola and Costa Rica) ophiolitic complexes.
Since 2010 he started to deal with Environmental geochemistry, mainly addressing the excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture in the areas vulnerability to nitrate pollution as the Po Delta (Ferrara Province). He won a LIFE 2010+ project for the use of natural zeolitites (LIFE2010/ENV/IT/000321, ZeoLIFE) to reduce water and fertilization.
Current projects are in collaboration with several Earth Science Departments and Research Centres in Europe and abroad: Dept. of Lithospheric Sciences, Vienna University, Austria (Prof. T. Ntaflos); CNRS. Observatory Midi-Pyrenees, Tolosa, Francia (Dr. M. Gregoire); Universitè Jean Monnet, University Saint Etienne, Francia (Prof. J-Y Cottin); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Budapest (Prof. Harangi S.); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bucarest (Prof. Seghedi I.); School of Earth Science - Birkbeck College, University of London (Prof. H. Downes); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Scotland (Prof. B.G.J. Upton); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway, (Prof. E.-R. Neumann); GEMOC (Centre for Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny Of Continents), Macquarie University, Sydney (Prof. S.O'Reilly, Bill Griffin, Norman Pearson); Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Hefei, China (Prof. Xia); Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Nankang University, Taiwan (Dr. K.-L. Wang); Dept. of Earth Sciences, Kanazawa University, Japan (Prof. S. Arai).
He acted as convener of topical symposia or sessions in the following national and international congresses:
1) Annual meeting of Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia (SIMP), “Basic magmatism and mantle sources: petrological and geodynamic aspects”, Ferrara 1991;
2) IGCP n. 256, Tirana (Albania), Ottobre 1992;
3) 1st Italian-Latin American geological meeting, Venezuela e Cuba, Gennaio 1995:
4) Italian-Albanian meeting, Tirana (Albania), Aprile 1996; 5) 32° IGC, Firenze 2004; 6) EGU 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 - Vienna; 7) 1° International Workshop on the Petrology of the European Mantle (EMAW), Ferrara, 2007; 8) Geoitalia 2007, 2009, 2011 – Rimini; 9) 33IGC, Oslo, 2008; 10) 89° SIMP Congress, in collaboration with AIV, SoGeI, and INGV, Ferrara 2010; 11) Golsdschmidt, Firenze 2013.
- He acted as commission member in the final examinations of France, Australian and Poland, as well as in many national, PhD School.
- He won a teaching fellowship at the University of Vienna (Petrology and Volcanology courses).
- Within a collaboration project between Ferrara and Hefei (China) Universities he won a competition for three years PhD fellowship (2006-2008), to study water content in nominally anhydrous minerals in mantle xenoliths from Eastern China and a three years PhD fellowship (2007-2009) from the Italian-French University (Vinci Project) on the topic “Matter transfer in suprasubductive mantle in complex converging systems”.
Dean of the Degree course in Geology from 2002 to 2004; Participants to the XX Italian Expedition to Antarctica; President of the Italian Group of Petrography dal 2009 al 2014. Secretary of the Petrology Section of the GMPV Division of EGU from 2009 to 2012; Coordinator of the PhD School in Science and Technology of Ferrara University since 2009; Counselor of the European Association of Geochemistry during 2012-2013; Member of the High Risk National Commission, Volcanic Section from 2011 to 2017; Coordinator of the Earth and Marine Sciences (EMAS) International PhD course, with double degree shared with the University of Cadiz since 2015; Director of the Higher University Studies Institute (IUSS Ferrara 1391) of Ferrara University since 2016.
