The Department of agricultural science is located in the royal palace of Portici that is a long established Institution with expertise in the fields of plant science, fire ecology, animal ecology and behaviour, conservation biology and ecological modeling. The institutional education activities range from undergraduate courses to doctoral studies in the field of agriculture, food science, forestry and environmental science.
The scientific relevance and international recognition of these research products positioned, for the year 2018, the University of Naples Federico II as number one in Agricultural Sciences in Italy among the top 18 Universities evaluated, 9 out of 130 in Europe, and 34 out of 300 in the world (National Taiwan World University Ranking).
The research group comprises a wide range of expertise from plant eco-physiology, ecological modeling, hydrology, numerical analysis and computational science. As regards wildfire science the UNINA group carries out research in fire ecology and management, fuel and fire behavior modeling and simulation analysis.
The modeling group has large experience in to system dynamic, integrated modeling software, fire propagation modeling, optimization and parallel and GRID computing. Selected international and national related projects:
International Project coordination
ModMED I and II – “Modelling Vegetation Dynamics and Degradation in Mediterranean Ecosystems”, participant institutions: Universities of Napoli, Edinburg, Athens, Lisboa, Valencia, Trier, Pisa and Campobasso – EU DG XII EV5V CT94-0489/0139
ModMED III- “Modelling Mediterranean Ecosystems Dynamics”, participant institutions: Universities of Napoli, Edinburg, Athens, Lisbon, Valencia, Trier, Pisa, Campobasso, Budapest – EU DG XII ENV4CT97-0680
International Unit coordination
FIRE PARADOX – “An innovative approach of Integrated Wildland Fire Management regulating the wildfire problem by the wise use of fire: solving the FIRE PARADOX”, coordination University of Lisbon, Portugal – EU DG XII FP6 018505
PON – PETIT-OSA “Piattaforme Evolute di Telecomunicazioni e di Information Technology per l’Offerta di Servizi al settore Ambiente”
National Project
“Metodo delle evidenze geometriche MEG” con il Corpo Forestale delle Stato ed il Dipartimento di Agraria dell’Università di Napoli Federico II finalizzato a sviluppare un algoritmo di propagazione in avanti e a ritroso del perimetro dell’incendio.
Contratto “Forest Fire Area Simulator” con il Corpo Forestale delle Stato ed il Dipartimento di Agraria dell’Università di Napoli Federico II ”
Contratto “Acquisizione di un sistema evoluto della modellistica di propagazione degli incendi boschivi” con il Corpo Forestale delle Stato ed il Dipartimento di Agraria, Università di Napoli Federico II
Researcher in Numerical Analysis
The research interest is mainly devoted to the design, development and analysis of mathematical models in biology and environmental science. Methodological and computational aspects have been considered for several different applications. In particular:
Integration of mathematical tool at different scale (theoretical and practical aspects). The effective study of complex biological systems needs the integration of modeling approaches based on different mathematical operators (ODE, PDE, logic functions), possibly using different languages and tools (Matlab, C + +, GIS, System Dynamic tools, …).
Model design, implementation and analysis in complex biological systems. Different mathematical modelling approaches can be used to simulate biological and ecological process. In particular we used system dynamics and individual-based approaches to describe vegetation dynamics, fire combustion and propagation, plant-soil processes, and movement of predators.
The research has been carried out in the frame of several international projects and collaborations with European research groups, which are leaders in the area of biological and ecological modelling. Moreover he is scientific tutor of four Ph.D. Students and member of PhD Course of Department of Agriculture Sciences.
Researcher in Forestry
He authored 60 scientific and technical publications, of which 34 in peer reviewed ISI journals (H index =12).
He has a background in wildfire management with studies focused on: (i) Fuel management for fire hazard reduction including the planning and implementation of prescribed burning. (ii) Use of fire for habitat restoration and the conservation of target plant and animal species. (iii) Vegetation fuels and fire modeling for simulating wildfire behavior and the effect of silvicultural treatments for fire prevention. (iv) Ecological effects of fire and post-fire management in both Mediterranean and Alpine ecosystems. (v) Fire danger rating and forecasting.
He has experience in fire science communication to land managers, fire operators and citizens. He authored 20 short documentaries targeted to the general public and published on YouTube related to fire ecology and fuel management by prescribed burning. Since 2009, he has been training more than 250 professional foresters and technicians throughout Italy on the themes of fire simulation, fire ecology and fuel management by silvicultural treatments.
Early stage researcher
He has a master’s degree in Forestry and Environmental Sciences at University of Naples Federico II. He had studying and research experiences in Prague, Évora and Lisbon. He has a good experience of team working and project planning acquired through his long time involvement in Forestry Student’s Association (AUSF, IFSA). He is working at UNINA in the fields of ecology, modelling and scientific communication. He developed Prevail project website.
