Forest ecologist with a strong background in process-based modelling. Postdoctoral researcher at WSL and lecturer at ETH Zurich.
Assessing the impacts of abiotic disturbances — mainly drought and climate extremes — and biotic disturbances — pests and management — on the dynamics of temperate forests, with a focus on growth and mortality processes at the stand and individual-tree scale. My work combines process-based and empirical forest models with long-term observational datasets, and pays close attention to the practical value of model output for forest practitioners.
Postdoctoral Researcher 100%
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Research Unit Forest Resources and Management — Resource Analysis group, Swiss National Forest Inventory. Project ReForMASSIMO: improving the modelling of Swiss forest development under relevant climate scenarios with the MASSIMO model. Supervisors: Dr. Golo Stadelmann, Dr. Esther Thürig.
University Lecturer 33%
ETH Zurich, Department of Environmental Systems Science (D‑USYS), Switzerland
Master course Quantitative Vegetation Dynamics.
Teaching Assistant & Research Support 20%
ETH Zurich, D‑USYS, Switzerland
Master courses Quantitative Vegetation Dynamics and Forest Mountain Ecology and Management.
Research Fellow 100%
University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Horizon 2020 project LANDSUPPORT. Group leader of the forestry group in WP3 (high-performance models); development of geospatial decision support tools for forest practice in the Campania Region at NUTS-2 and NUTS-3 level.
PhD in Forest Ecology
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Thesis: Unraveling the death spiral — drivers and ecological responses of temperate forests to drought stress. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Harald Bugmann, Stand and Landscape Dynamics group. Funded by SNSF grant 188882, Embracing structural uncertainty in models of forest dynamics.
Developed and validated process-based forest gap models (ForClim v4.1–4.2) against long-term observational datasets; released open-source model code and reproducible workflows.
MSc Forest Sciences 110/110 cum laude
University of Padua, Italy
Thesis: Physico-chemical characterization of woody by-products for energetic purposes.
BSc Forest Sciences 110/110 cum laude
University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Thesis: Characterization of forest soils — a multiscale approach.
Matura, European Classical Gymnasium 100/100
Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, Naples, Italy
ReForMASSIMO
WSL · Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU) · CHF 500,000 · Role: non-PI (postdoc)
Improving the modelling of forest development in Switzerland for relevant climate scenarios with the MASSIMO model.
Embracing structural uncertainty in models of forest dynamics
ETH Zurich · Swiss National Science Foundation · CHF 959,036 · Role: non-PI (PhD)
SNSF Division I–III, grant 188882.
LANDSUPPORT
University of Naples Federico II · European Union (H2020, 774234) · € 6,999,771 total, € 1,351,583 institutional · Role: non-PI (research fellow)
Development of an integrated web-based land decision support system for the implementation of agricultural and environmental policies. Geospatial infrastructure tools supporting sustainable forest management at EU, national and regional scale.
Quantitative Vegetation Dynamics — MSc
ETH Zurich, D‑USYS · University Lecturer (33%)
Quantitative Vegetation Dynamics — MSc
ETH Zurich, D‑USYS · Teaching assistant (20%)
Supporting students in setting up simulations with the forest gap model ForClim.
Forest Mountain Ecology and Management — MSc
ETH Zurich, D‑USYS · Teaching assistant (20%)
Supporting research assistants with ForClim simulations.
Full teaching record and supervised theses →
| Model | Role & contribution | Language |
|---|---|---|
| MASSIMO | Empirical, stochastic, individual-tree simulator of the Swiss NFI. Enhancing climate sensitivity via a climate meta-model; hybridisation with process-based approaches. | Java |
| ForClim v4.1–4.2 | Gap model of forest dynamics. Main developer of versions 4.1 and 4.2, extending sensitivity to climate extremes. Ongoing collaborations with ETH Zurich, University of Auckland and Universidad Santiago de Chile. | C#, Python |
| 3D-CMCC-FEM | Process-based forest ecosystem model. Contributor as external research associate at the CNR Forest Modelling Lab; transferring the drought-mortality framework and linking predisposition to non-structural carbohydrate dynamics. | C |
| Forest Studio | Forest growth and management model. Scientific support to development at the ETH Zurich Forest Resources Management professorship. | Rust |
Modellierung zukünftiger Baumarteneignung: Herausforderungen und stetige Weiterentwicklungen Invited
Montagskolloquium für die Praxis, ETH Zurich, 24 November 2025
Predisposing and inciting stress factors leading to drought-induced mortality Invited
IUFRO World Congress, session T5.22, Stockholm, June 2024
Predisposing and inciting stress factors leading to drought-induced tree mortality Best talk
SwissForestLab Science Day, ETH Zurich, October 2023
From dynamic forest models to decision support for forest transformation — how can synergies be achieved? Session chair
European Conference of Ecological Modelling, Leipzig, September 2023
Also presented Predisposing and inciting stress factors leading to beech mortality in Switzerland and a poster on the use of dynamic forest models as decision support in Swiss mountain protection forests.
Effects of drought on Swiss forest dynamics — what is the influence of soil water storage capacity?
Forest Disturbances and Ecosystem Dynamics in a Changing World, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany, September 2022
Analyzing the drought–growth relationship at six low-elevation beech sites in Switzerland
XIII Congresso Nazionale SISEF, Orvieto, Italy, May–June 2022
How to integrate dynamic forest models in geospatial decision support systems
LANDSUPPORT H2020 Round Table on Forestry · video