Associated Professore  S.S.D. GEO/09 – GEO/09 Mining resources, mineralogic and petrographic applications for the environment and for cultural heritage 

Teaching activity

 Currently, I teaches and coordinates the following courses at the University of Cagliari for the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture:

Bachelor degree L17
Integrated course in materials for architecture  Geomaterials

Master degree LM4
historical materials characterization and conservation 

 In addition to these courses, I supervise as primary supervisor or co-tutor thesis students for the courses of  Bachelor degree L17 and  Master degree LM4

 I also supervise PhD candidates and guide them during the development of their research projects, supporting them with the analysis and processing of laboratory data in the context of mineral chemistry

 

 Scientific activity

 My main field of research is Mineral Chemistry, with the use of instrumental techniques such as XRD, XRF, DTA-DTG etc.

 I have gained a large experience and deep knowledge in the study of minerals and rocks that I now apply to the field of Cultural Heritage in relation to the conservation and restoration of the cultural, environmental and artistic heritage such as:

 

-          characterization and analysis of the degradation of natural and artificial stone materials

-          archaeometric studies for the identification and provenance of marble (white and colored)

 

My main research topics in these fields are:

-      mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical study of white marbles used in the

     archaeological complexes of the Greek-Roman age

-      mineral-petrographic and geochemical characterization of white and colored marbles used

      in the construction of the eighteenth-century altars, in order to define their origin, processing

      techniques, and types of deterioration;

-       analysis of the materials used for the construction of the late Gothic Sardinian churches  

-       mineralogical, petrographic and systematic geochemical study of ashlars and of the mortars

      of the Defensive Systems in Sardinia (Towers and Fortifications coastal, fortified architecture)

      and the urban religious complexes in view of their possible recovery and restoration.

 

Skills and expertise

 I am the scientific coordinator for the laboratory of Petrography and Mineral Characterization of building materials such as stone, lithoid and earth Cruda. This laboratory is part of the LabMAST – the Mediterranean Laboratory for the Historical-Traditional Materials and Architectures.

The laboratory is equipped with a multifunctional high resolution Theta-Theta X-Ray Diffractometer (Rigaku ULTIMA 4) and a Benchtop WDXRF spectrometer (RIGAKU Supermini).