Elena earned a bachelor’s in Biological Sciences at the University of Pavia, where she joined a research project about the phylogeography of the common swallow. She investigated the mitochondrial genetic diversity, paying particular attention to the radiation effects on the mutation rate of the mitochondrial genome in a population sampled near Chernobyl after 20 years from the nuclear accident.  

For her master’s degree in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Padua she worked on the characterization of the genomic diversity of the endangered Hermann’s tortoise, cooperating with the population genetics and genomics group of the University of Ferrara.

Dealing with big data for research purposes, Elena developed skills in shell scripting and statistical analysis with R. During her academic career she also learned GIS applied to species distribution and ecological niche modeling.

Before starting the biological studies, she spent a volunteering period in South Africa, where she did wildlife monitoring and conservation work, also participating in game capture operations. Her following work experiences in Africa were in the eco-tourism sector, managing a tented safari camp near the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. She developed excellent capabilities in wildlife photography and video making.

Being also a musician, Elena is particularly interested in animal vocal behaviour and in the application of bioacoustics and ecoacoustics as non-invasive techniques for wildlife monitoring and conservation of nature. Her experiences in this subject area dates back to the assessment of vocal repertoire of the Eurasian griffon vulture and vocal behaviour of grey heron, two research projects leaded along with Dr. Federico Romani.

Elena’s love for nature goes beyond the terrestrial environment and borders on marine ecosystem, encouraging her to attend a coral reef restoration project held in Maldives in 2018. In that occasion, she did field activities in the sea by scuba diving, and learned how to build and populate coral nurseries, transplant colonies from degraded reef sites and assess coral health conditions.

Currently she is one of the team leaders of the Northern Tanzania Raptors Project.

During his assignments he developed a sensitivity and concern for local human-wildlife conflicts and the negative impacts generated by anthropogenic activity on the survival and reproduction of large birds of prey. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and a master’s degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Pavia, where he started his studies on vocal behaviour and its implications for management purposes, specializing in Bioacoustics and passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) of riverine and mountain biological communities.

He is leading research in social interactions and vocal communication of Eurasian griffon vulture in the central Apennines, which represents one of the major contributions to the knowledge of large raptors vocal behaviour. For the past two years he has also been conducting the first study of vocal behaviour in grey heron and its effects on breeding, parental care, sibling conflict and nestling survival in the Po valley.

For these projects he is cooperating with CIBRA (Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioacoustics and Environmental Research, University of Pavia), the Biodiversity Department of Italian Authorities (Carabinieri), and LA TORBIERA Zoological Society. He also collaborates with CIBRA for a long-term soundscape monitoring of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park to assess environmental quality and its changes over time.

Currently he is doing his PhD research on the ecology of the secretarybird in the Serengeti ecosystem at the University of Pavia.