I am more than happy to share my story with you, my dear reader. You can find detailed information below or just one click away on the next pages of this website. And if you are in a rush, no worries! Here’s a quick overview of who I am:

I am a senior consultant in the space sector and manage the support office of Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation programme. I worked for several years as a science communication manager for EU-funded large-scale, international research projects. I studied science journalism and communication at La Sapienza University (Italy) and at the University of the West of England (UK). I did an internship in science journalism at the Department of Communication of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). I have an academic background in Physics and Astronomy and earned a Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Germany). I have been a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and actively contributed to the first detection of gravitational waves, for which I was awarded the 2016 Physics Breakthrough Prize (shared with the LIGO and Virgo collaborations). I completed a summer student programme in particle physics at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab, USA). I am an associate editor at astroEDU, an open-access platform for peer-reviewed astronomy educational activities operating under the auspices of the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Discover my story

I am passionate about science!

But this has not always been the case, and actually my passion for science came out quite late. Late enough to clearly remember when: it was in my last year of high school, when we dedicated some hours to stellar evolution. I found the topic so fascinating that the decision was inevitable: I would go to the university to study Physics and Astronomy.

That’s what I did, and I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Astronomy and a Master’s Degree in Physics at the University of Padua (Italy), in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Moreover, in 2007, I completed a summer student programme at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab, USA), back then the world’s most powerful particle accelerator.

But my main interests were still the cosmos and its secrets. And one secret in particular, namely the elusive gravitational waves — the tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

So, short after earning my Master’s Degree, I moved to Germany to start a Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, the world’s leading research institute on gravitational-wave physics. I got my Ph.D. title in 2013 and was a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and GEO Scientific Collaboration, actively contributing to the first detection of gravitational waves and direct observation of black holes. For this revolutionary discovery, the members of the LIGO and Virgo collaborations (including me) were awarded the 2016 Physics Breakthrough Prize. What an honour!

During those years I understood that science is not only beautiful when made, but also when communicated. So, after working as a Maths and Physics teacher at the Ecole d’Humanité (Switzerland), in 2017 I completed a one-year postgraduate programme in science journalism and communication at La Sapienza University in Rome (Italy).

Since then I have been pursuing my career in science communication. I first worked from 2017 to 2022 as a science communication manager at ICONS (Italy) and the youris.com European Research Media Agency (Belgium). This position saw me responsible for the communication and dissemination aspects of international, large-scale research projects funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme. And then, in 2022, I moved to SpaceTec Partners (Germany), where I work as a senior consultant for the space sector and manage the support office of Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation programme.

From May to November 2021, I also did an internship in science journalism at the Department of Communication of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. The perfect combination of my academic background and my activity as a science communicator! And to further improve my science journalism skills, in 2022 I also completed a module on online and media writing at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol, UK).

Moreover, since February 2022 I have been working as an associate editor at astroEDU, an open-access platform for peer-reviewed astronomy educational activities operating under the auspices of the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

And last but not least, I have given workshops on science communication to the research group coordinators and to the early career researchers of the Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers.

Check out my skills

Professional skills
  • Multi-stakeholder, multi-channel and multi-format science communication and dissemination
  • Project management and planning
  • Design and implementation of editorial plans
  • Creation, curation and distribution of scientific editorial contents
  • Science journalism
  • Knowledge of new and traditional media
  • Social media management
  • Quantitative impact assessment of communication campaigns
  • Strong work experience in European research projects
  • International experience: Italy, Germany, Switzerland and USA
  • Ability to work in large, international scientific organisations and collaborations: ESO, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)
  • Ability to work independently and in a diverse team
  • Strong background in Physics and Astronomy
  • Teaching and outreach experience
  • Event organisation, promotion and management
  • Science translation
Computer skills
  • Website management with WordPress
  • Command of graphic software and tools such as InDesign and Canva
  • Video editing with Filmora and iMovie
  • Audio editing with Audacity
Languages
  • Italian (native)
  • English (proficient)
  • German (proficient)
  • Spanish (proficient)
  • French (beginner)

Have a look at my CV

Curriculum Vitae (PDF, last update: October 2022)