I got my BSc degree in Biological Sciences at University of Naples “Parthenope” in 2013, with a thesis about the conservation status of the herpetological community living in an Italian protected area. In 2015, I got my MSc degree in Environmental Biology at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, where I studied phylogeography and coloration of the western whip snake (Hierophis viridiflavus). Currently, I am a PhD Student at CIBIO under the lead of BIODESERTS, with a project focusing on nine medically important viper species from North-West Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. I will apply a proteomic approach to characterize geographic venom variability of these species at local and regional scale, and infer the evolutionary and biological drivers determining it. Using GIS-tools I will map snakebite risk in the Western Mediterranean, defining incidence hotspots and frequently involved species, and investigate on biotic and abiotic factors influencing snakebite accidents in this region. Furthermore, using ecological niche-based models, I aim at predicting dynamics of snakebite risk under future scenarios of climate change, providing tools to define appropriate management strategies to mitigate the human-snake conflict.
I feel deeply attracted by many different fields in biology and support the multidisciplinary approach, therefore I aim to develop a good set of skills in different fields of study rather than become specialized in one only. I am determined to build an academic career on the analysis of phenotypic plasticity and adaptation of living beings to extreme and complex environments, with a particular focus on reptiles. Up to this day I have published two papers and I have worked as field herpetologist on scientific expeditions in Europe, Mexico and Peru.

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Research ID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-3904-2018