My research stands at the interface between behavioural and cognitive ecology. I am interested in understanding within-species variation in cognition and behaviour, and the role of this variation in coping with current human-induced rapid environmental change. I pursue an integrative approach, combining concepts and methods of behavioural and cognitive ecology to address questions at the interface of ethology, invasion biology, and urban ecology.
Human activities produce novel abiotic and biotic conditions, requiring animals to adjust quickly to survive and adapt. Behaviour and cognition are the “first line of defence” of animals against environmental change, as they determine how individuals interact with their surroundings, and mediate fast and flexible responses to buffer environmental variation.
The main objectives of my work are to understand whether and how cognition and behavioural flexibility help animals cope with ecological novelty and to characterise how living in non-native and/or human-altered environments affects animal cognition, behaviour and personality.
To achieve this, I combine experimental manipulations of environmental conditions in controlled settings with empirical work under natural and semi-natural conditions.
I currently work as non-tenured lecturer in the Department for Ecological and Biological Sciences at University of Tuscia.
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