Biography

PhD candidate at Hickey Lab at the Centre for Crop Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at The University of Queensland, Australia. My research is part of an international project funded by the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) that assembles a world-class team of leaders in root research and wheat genetic improvement. I am studying the root system of wheat adopting desirable root traits associated with crop yield and yield stability improvement. My aim is to develop different root ideotypes better adapted to a diverse panel of environments and soil profiles to optimise root systems in wheat. I am half Italian and French, with Spanish, Belgian, Russian and Armenian origins. I completed my bachelor’s degree and master's degree at the University of Padova (Italy). I did my master thesis at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Thuwal, Saudi Arabia) at the Center of desert agriculture with Prof. Heribert Hirt. After my master I undertook an internship at Hickey Lab under the supervision of Dr Lee Hickey studying the roots system architecture in barley and wheat. Afterwards I won a scholarship of six months at the University of Bologna (Italy) at Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL). In addition I co-founded a podcast called ILLUMINATA where we highlight women in agriculture and sharing their stories to inspire young girls. Currently I am the social media coordinator of the QAAFI Student Association (QSA) and a Young Science Ambassador from Wonder of Science where we promoting a STEM culture in Queensland schools. I have recently won the Crawford-in-Queensland Student Award 2020 to be able to visit the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico to conduct collaborative root research.

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