Experience
The path
Twenty years spent looking at living things in different places: fields on the Sele plain, vineyards beneath the mountains of northern Albania, high-altitude vines on a mid-Atlantic volcano, Campanian vineyards on the way back. The thread is not the stops along the way — it is the gaze that forms when a living system asks you to read it for what it actually is, not for what you hope it might be.
Where it all began
I was born in Salerno. My path brings together two dimensions that have always accompanied me: on one side, a deep interest in agriculture, the environment and natural systems; on the other, a curiosity for computing, data analysis and the technical tools needed to read and represent reality. I realised I wanted to be an agronomist as a teenager, while visiting a friend’s farm in Pontecagnano. I had been going there for years and gradually became fascinated by growing plants, by life in general, by the idea of obtaining food from the land. The rest of the journey was about finding a way to make that a profession.
Studies
After an internship in microbiology, I graduated in 2002 in Agricultural Sciences and Technology at the Reggia di Portici (NA). I then continued my studies in Florence on a specialist programme in Rural Development and Sustainable Techniques, deepening agronomic, environmental-economic and farm management topics. During those years I also consolidated my use of digital tools for territory analysis and data interpretation — tools I still consider essential for modern consultancy. In 2010 I was awarded the Specialist Degree with full marks and distinction.
International cooperation and viticulture: Albania and Cape Verde
Long passionate about winemaking, my relationship with wine production begins in Shkodër, Albania, where I am invited to join an international cooperation project funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There I meet Alberto Cugnetto and Roland Leka — winemaker and chemist respectively. The core activity is helping local wine producers improve quality and studying the performance of autochthonous varieties. We identify and research the potential of Kallmet, an exceptional Albanian grape. I work as consultant to the project’s wineries and as cellar hand at the association’s winery. Thanks to that project — and to Alberto and Roland, who still follow some cellars — excellent wines continue to be produced across northern Albania today (Cantina Arberi, Mrizi i zanave).
The next assignment takes me to Fogo, Cape Verde, where I support the harvest of the vinho do vulcão (winemaker Nicola Trabucco). Spanish and Portuguese varieties, vines planted at 5×5 metre spacing, a tropical climate, a state-of-the-art cellar. A new challenge: training the estate’s vineyards on trellis to produce twice a year. In that environment the vines never enter dormancy, shoots grow without stopping, bud break is almost random. It is in places like this that I understood that every site must be read from scratch, without the template of what you learned somewhere else.
Italy: the SALVE project and technical management in Campania
Back in Italy, I work on the SALVE project for the recovery and conservation of autochthonous Campanian varieties of plum, apricot and grapevine. I monitor three germplasm fields — the Improsta regional farm in Eboli (SA), the Torre Lama university farm in Bellizzi (SA), and the Agricultural Technical Institute in Avellino — and carry out field grafting, observation, recovery and variety cataloguing.
From September 2016 I am called to manage the new Tenuta Fontana project, with vineyards in the Sannio and Aversano zones. Consulting winemakers include Nicola Trabucco and Francesco Bartoletti in succession. I oversee the technical management of vineyards, olive groves and the cellar, and serve as the estate’s winemaker. We carry out the replanting of the historic Vigna del Re di Borbone in the woods of the Royal Palace of Caserta. We grow Asprinio, Falanghina, Sciascinoso, Aglianico and Pallagrello, producing wines in stainless steel, wood and terracotta (traditional amphora).
In September 2019 I leave Tenuta Fontana following an offer from another estate in central Italy. An imminent family emergency leads me to decline the new position almost immediately.
From 2020: teaching, private practice, expanded activities
From 2020 I also teach at secondary school level as a Mathematics and Science teacher. I consider it a coherent choice: method, clarity, the ability to explain, the ability to structure complex problems into practical and verifiable steps.
During those same years my freelance practice has grown and consolidated in technical-expert and environmental fields, working alongside private clients, condominium associations, agricultural businesses, municipalities and other professionals. In particular I have specialised in:
- Tree Stability Assessment (VTA) and risk management in urban and residential contexts. Learn more →
- Urban and residential green spaces: inventories, Urban Green Plans, care programming. Learn more →
- Environmental assessments (Habitat Impact Assessment and supporting reports for building works). Learn more →
- Agronomic surveys and valuations, including compensation assessments for trees. Learn more →
- Farm Development Plans and technical-agronomic consultancy for agricultural businesses.
- Technical analysis and outputs using advanced GIS and CAD. Learn more →
The studio is based in Pellezzano (SA), a small town midway between Salerno and Avellino, from which I can move easily across Irpinia, Sannio and Cilento, and — when an assignment calls for it — anywhere in Italy.