Profile

I’m from Rome in Italy and moved to York 11 years ago for my undergraduate degree in Chemistry.  I then did a PhD in geochemistry and worked in industry for almost 2 years before coming back to York for a researcher job for 3 years.

In high school I decided I wanted to be a scientist and at university I chose chemistry because it is a very broad subject that allowed me to become more specific on geology and geography so I’m now a geochemist!

I’ve always enjoyed sports, especially swimming, volleyball and martial arts (I did karate and Viet Vo Dao).  Since I started working I do yoga to help me relax.  I love animals, especially bears!  Every year my partner and I go to Yorkshire Wildlife Park to see all the animals and spend quite a lot of time watching polar bears!

I love to travel, visiting cities, the countryside and mostly enjoying the food!  I would love to visit Mexico and to go back to Antarctica for holiday or work.

I’m a service research technician in Biology at the University of York.

In my daily job I train, support and work on various biochemical and biological research projects, doing analysis of plant and cell extracts.

During my PhD and postdoc my research was on past environment reconstruction.  Ever heard the phrase “studying the past is the key to understand the future”?  That’s exactly where my research comes from.  This means that I study the chemical characteristics of past climate and past sea-level changes so we can apply our understanding to tackle present and future problems, for example sea-level and ecosystem changes due to human impact on the planet.

In practice I study the chemical substances preserved in soil that represents the environment in which animals and plants lived (for example chlorophyll or bacterial fats).  These molecules are different depending on the producer and the type of environment – terrestrial like a forest, freshwater, coastal or inundated by the sea.  I also use protein in the shells found in the soil to date when events such as sea-level changes happened in the past.

My typical day was quite differentwhen I was working in industry in Hull.  I was waking up around 6am and driving for just over 1 hour to Hull to arrive to work at 8 or 8.15 am.  Within my team I was looking after around 300 instruments in 3 different labs, training new people in the lab and helping solving issues using my knowledge and experience in the lab.  The job was incredibly fast-paced and never boring because every day was different with lots of problem solving to help people.  I used to leave between 4 and 5pm depending on workload and arrive home after 6pm.

Since I worked at the University of York, I have a lot less commute (I walk to work!) and more time to relax and work on my hobbies in the evening.   As a researcher, I spend a lot of time in the lab but also at my computer looking at my data and writing up reports.  I prefer lab work because it is so varied: from drilling shells to using acids to dissolve them, from using a pestle and mortar to grind soil to creating nice colours in chemical separation!  Mid-morning I go to coffee with my colleagues before going back to the lab.