"Full Professor teacher of Agricultural Entomology, Biological and Integrated Control, Entomology of grapevine at the Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Torino. 2008-2015 Director of the Laurea course in "Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie". Since 2012 head of the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (SAMEV). He is involved in research concerning: study on natural enemies of harmful phytophagous insects; biology of exotic insects introduced into Italy with planning and implementation of biological control programmes; biological control against plant-sucking insects; IPM applications in vegetable greenhouses, vineyards and orchards; systematic, biology, epidemiology, ethology, chorology and population dynamics of auchenorrhyncha; research on auchenorrhyncha and sternorrhyncha vectors of phytoplasmas producing diseases in grapevine, ornamental and vegetable and orchards; transmission of phytoplasmas by planthoppers, leaffioppers and psyllids; studies on insect-symbiont interactions and symbiotic control.
Specific research activities concerning chestnut protection include: Bio-ethology of major and minor chestnut pests; set up of sustainable strategies for chestnut pest control, with special regard to approaches based on sex pheromones; design and realization of biological control of the Asian chestnut gall wasp by using the parasitoid Torymus sinensis; set up of parasitoid mass rearing; field multiplication areas, storage, transport and release of T. sinensis in the field. Native biocoenosis of the Asian chestnut gall wasp parasitoids; ethology and life cycle of T. sinensis, adaptation to native oak cynipids.
Leader of EC Operative Units (LIFE09), INTERREG 11 and 111, Italy-France, and of older agreements drawn with public Institutions for specific research activities. National responsible of several national research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). Participant of COST Actions.
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