I am an advocate for animals and I work as a Reader (Associate Professor) in Animal Behaviour at University of Wolverhampton, where I lead the Animal Behaviour & Wildlife Conservation research group and co-chair for research and knowldege exchange the School of Pharmacy & Lifes Science.

While at Wolverhampton, I led the EU-funded projects International Zoo Conservation & Management (Erasmus+ Key Action 203 Mobility Project 2019-2020), International Zoo Conservation & Management Master (Erasmus Mundus Design Measures 2023-2024) and The Enriched Primate (EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions 2021-2023) as well as the internally funded project Biosciences Research / Conservation - Animal & Plant Biology (University's Research Investment Fund 2021-2024).

Before joining Wolverhampton, I worked at Durham University as a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology (2013-2015) focusing on my project Microsmatic Primates Revisited under the supervision of Professor Jo Setchell. I moved to Wolverhampton as a Lecturer in Animal Behaviour in 2016, while I continued my research work in collaboration with the Primatology Group at Durham University as an Honorary Research Fellow until 2021.

I serve as an ad-hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed international journals and funding agencies. Additionally, I am a Research Associate at Garda Zoological Park's ARCA Foundation (Italy), and a Member of the Steering Committee of the EU LIFE20 Norther Bald Ibis project. Furthermore, for several years I have been working on applied projects about primate conservation and the sustainability of local communities in Africa and, as a result of this experience, in 2011 I co-founded a specialized consultancy firm, CarbonSink. This Florence University's spin-off then became the leading Italian consultancy company focused on climate strategy and nature-based solutions in climate change mitigation, before being acquired by South Pole (world-leading consultancy company in the sector) in 2022.

I enjoy public engagement, including live interviews on camera (Sky News, BBC Persian Television, Radiotelevisione Svizzera) and press interviews for newspapers (Huffington Post, Consumatori & Informatore Coop, Travel News) to comment on animal-related stories. My research work has also attracted some media attention, including that of London-based TV production companies Blink Films, Oxford Scientific Films and Kalel Productions. In particular, Blink Films made a series all about animal communication (‘Animals Decoded’), with an episode (‘Invisible Communication’) entirely focused on my work on primate chemical communication, which first aired on Love Nature (Canada) in 2019 and then was broadcasted worldwide (including Mediaset & Sky Italy).