Updated on 25/05/2023

EDUCATION

• Graduated in Hydraulic Engineering at the University of Cagliari (Italy), final mark: 110/110 cum laude

• PhD in Resource Recovery Engineering

POSITION AND ROLES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAGLIARI

• Full Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Cagliari

• Past coordinator of the PhD programmes in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Technologies and Geoengineering and Environmental Technologies at the University of Cagliari (2011-2019)

• Member of the academic board of the national PhD programme in Scientific, Technological and Social Methods enabling Circular Economy at the University of Padova (2022-)

• Member of the Education Committee and External Relations Committee of the Master degree and degree programmes in Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cagliari

• Deputy for the University of Cagliari in the Net of Italian Sustainable Universities (RUS)

POSITION AND ROLES WITHIN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEES/ASSOCIATIONS

• Research associate at IGAG - Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the CNR – Italian National Research Council, section of Cagliari

• Chairman of the Task Group "Waste Biorefinery" of the IWWG (International Waste Working Group)

• Member of the "Phoenix-Waste Combustion Residues" Task Group of the IWWG

• Member of GITISA - Italian Association of University Professors of Environmental Engineering

• Member of the ANDIS - Italian National Association of Environmental Engineering

• Member of RECONNET - Italian Network for Management and Reclamation of Contaminated Sites

• Member of the CINIGeo - National Inter-university Consortium for Geo-resources Engineering

POSITION RELATED TO THE ASN (NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC QUALIFICATION for professorship)

• Eligible as member of the evaluation commitee for the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) - Scientific Sector 08/A2 (Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Hydrocarbon Engineering and Fluid in the Subsoil, Civil Safety and Protection), 2021-2023.

• Member of the evaluation commitee for the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) - Scientific Sector 08/A2 (Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Hydrocarbon Engineering and Fluid in the Subsoil, Civil Safety and Protection), 2018-2020.

CURRENT COURSES AS PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAGLIARI

• Sustainable Solid Waste Management (9 credits) for the Master's Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Development

• Contaminated site remediation (6 credits) for the Master's Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Development

• Engineering for Sustainable Development (5 credits) for the Master's Degree Programme in Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Development (co-teaching)

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

• Author or co-author of more than 200 scientific manuscripts published in international indexed journals, books and conference proceedings

• Co-editor of the book "Reclamation of Contaminated Soils and Groundwater: Current Situation and Perspectives", ISBN: 978-88-95398-00-6

• Member of the editorial board of Processes, an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal

• Reviewer for scientific journals. ELSEVIER: Waste Management, Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Chemosphere, Biotechnology Advances, Bioresource Technology, Chemical Engineering Journal, Science of the Total Environment, Engineering Geology, Renewable Energy, Separation and Purification Technology, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Environmental Challenges, Journal of Industrial and Environmental Chemistry, Applied Energy, Energy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal of Sustainable Energy, Food and Bioproducts Processing, Journal of Water Process Engineering, Scientific African; TAYLOR & FRANCIS: Soil and Sediment Contamination, Environmental Technology, Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Separation Science and Technology. SPRINGER: Environmental Science and Pollution Research (Springer), Waste and Biomass Valorization, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution. MARY ANN LIEBERT: Environmental Engineering Science. SAGE: Waste Management and Research. ACS PUBLICATIONS: Energy and Fuels. ASCE: Journal of Environmental Engineering. IWA: Water Science and Technology (IWA).

BIBLIOMETRIC INDICATORS - SCOPUS DATABASE

• ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8134-3667

• SCOPUS ID: 23111234100

• documents 59

• citations 1540

• H-index 23

PARTECIPATION IN RESEARCH PROJECTS

Coordinator of international research projects/units

• Two-year project (2005-2007), Executive Program of Scientific and Technological Co-operation between the Italian Republic and the Republic of South Africa, funded in 2004 by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South African Ministry of Science and Technology, title "Landfill emission reduction by waste stabilization"

• Two-year project (2008-2010), Executive Program of Scientific and Technological Co-Operation between the Italian Republic and the Republic of South Africa, funded in 2007 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South African Ministry of Science and Technology, title "Carbon emissions reduction and climate protection through zero waste"

• Three-year EU project (LIFE08 ENV/IT 000426, 2010-2012, extended to 2013) funded under the "LIFE - Environment Policy and Governance" program, title "COAST-BEST - CO-ordinated Approach for Sediment Treatment and BEneficial reuse in Small harbors in NETworks" coordinator of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

Coordinator within international research agreements/contracts

• Technical-scientific support agreement within the EU three-year project (2014-2016) Life+12 ENV/IT/442, title "SEKRET - Sediment Electrokinetic REmediation Technology for heavy metal pollution removal" task: electrokinetic remediation of contaminated port sediments

Coordinator of national research projects/units

• Three-years project (2000-2003) funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Scientific and Technological Research (MURST) (6,600,000 €), title "Land & Environment"

• Two-years research project of national interest (PRIN 2006-2007) funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR), title "Rehabilitation of marine lagoons and fluvial sediments" coordinator of the research unit of the University of Cagliari, task: "Use of electrochemical, biological and chemical-physical methods for the treatment of marine sediments contaminated by heavy metals and organic compounds"

• Project (2008) funded by Sardegna Ricerche (Institution of the Region of Sardinia for research and technological development), Experimentation and Technology Transfer Projects for Districts or Business Clusters - Regional Net for Innovation - POR Sardegna 2000-2006, title "HyMeC - Production of hydrogen from organic waste using biological methods"

• Three-years research project (2010-2013) funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry ("Bioenergy" call), title "VEROBIO - Energy Enhancement of Organic Residues from Agro-industrial Activities through the Use in Fuel Cells of Biogas by Anaerobic Digestion" coordinator of the research unit of the University of Cagliari; task: biological fermentative production of H2 from mixtures of agro-industrial residues

• Two-years partnership project (2012-2014) funded by the Region of Sardinia in the framework of the P.O. ESF 2007-2013 Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective, title "Innovative Recovery of Energy and Materials from Biodegradable Residues through Combined Biological Production of Hydrogen and Methane and subsequent Composting" industrial partner: VillaService SpA.

• Two-years research project entitled "Integrated treatment of cheese whey and hi-tech waste: a demonstration of synergistic waste management in a circular economy perspective", funded by the Foundation of Sardinia (Banco di Sardegna) (2021-2023).

•  Since January 2022 scientific supervisor of the Biofuels and Biomass Laboratory at the Renewable Energy Platform of Sardegna Ricerche, an instrumental body of the Sardinia Region, within the Collaboration Agreement with the University of Cagliari for the project “Power Integration Grids”.

Member of research units in international research projects

• Three-year EU research project (2011-2014) funded under the "ENPI - European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument" program, Mediterranean Sea Basin Joint Operational Program", title "MAPMED - MAnagement of Port areas in the Mediterranean Sea Basin" member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Three-year EU research project (2018-2020) funded under the PC MFI 2014-2020, title "Sustainable Management of Waste and Residues in Port (GRRinPORT)" member of the University of Cagliari research unit

• Since 2021, as part of the European Digital Univercity - Research and Innovation with and for Society (Educ-Share) project, he is the contact person for the University of Cagliari in the WP3 Citizen Engagement work package, with particular reference to the target T3.5 Promotion of sustainable campuses through a citizen-centered strategy.

Member of research units in national research projects

• Research project of national interest (PRIN 2000-2002) funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research, title "Development of biosensors for the control of water purification processes", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Research project of national interest (PRIN 2002-2004) funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research, title "The presence of drugs in municipal sewage effluents and in surface waters: monitoring, ecotoxicological evaluations and advanced removal processes", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Three-year research project (2003-2006) funded under the PON 2000-2006 program "Scientific Research, Technological Development, Higher Education", Measure I.3, Action "A" (891.600 ?), title "New Technologies for Environmental Remediation and Restoration of Contaminated Sites", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Three-year research project (2010-2012) funded by the Region of Sardinia, title "Innovative Methods for Risk Reduction and Remediation of Abandoned Mining Areas", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Three-year research project (2012-2014) funded by the Region of Sardinia, title "CO2 Emission Containment and Stabilization of Alkaline Residues through Accelerated Carbonation", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Three-year research project (2014-2017) funded by the Region of Sardinia, title "Integrated System for the Production of H2 and CH4 from Municipal Solid Waste and Treatment of Process Residues", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Two-years research project (2017-2019) funded by Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, title "RE-MINE - REstoration and remediation of abandoned MINE sites", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Two-year research project (2019-2021) funded by Italian Ministry of Environment, in partnership with F.I.L.M.S. Corp., title "Co and W: waste and resource of the hard metal chain (CoW-aste)", member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• Research project entitled "SMaRT PCBs" funded by MiTE - Ministry of Ecological Transition for research projects aimed at the development of new technologies for the recovery, recycling and treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), member of the research unit of the University of Cagliari

• National Recovery and Resilience Plan Project-PNRR, Mission 4 "Education and research" - Component 2 "From research to business" - Investment 1.5 - Creation and strengthening of "innovation ecosystems", construction of "territorial R&D leaders" , Funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU, entitled e.INS Ecosystem of Innovation for Next Generation Sardinia (e.INS) - Regional Innovation Ecosystems, as a component of the critical mass of the University of Cagliari - Department of Civil, Environmental and Architecture Engineering. The activity takes place within the Spoke 09 Environmental Heritage Staff and has as its object: "T3.1 Anaerobic fermentation/digestion and/or aerobic biochemical processes aimed at the recovery of biofuels/energy carriers and bioproducts".

• National Recovery and Resilience Plan-PNRR Project, Extended Partnership entitled RETURN-multi-Risk sciEnce for resilienT commUnities undeR a changiNg climate, Vertical Spoke V4 Environmental Degradation, WP 4.5 Prevention and Remediation, TG 4.5.4 Sustainable Remediation Technologies for Contaminated Sites , Brownfield and Mining Sites Recovery and Regeneration. RETURN is an extended partnership on environmental risks funded by the PNRR which includes 26 partners and aims to create a network between universities, research institutions, local authorities, the national Civil Protection Department, private individuals and industry on the issue of integrated risk management nature and the impacts of climate change. There are 26 partners involved, including 12 universities (Naples Federico II, Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna, Bari, Cagliari, Enna Kore, Florence, Genoa, Padua, Palermo, Milan Polytechnic, Turin Polytechnic, Rome Sapienza), 5 research and Competence Centers (OGS, CIMA, ENEA, Eurac Research, Ca' Foscari Foundation), 6 private individuals (FS Italiane Group, Almaviva, Engineering, Generali Assicurazioni, IREN, ENI Rewind),

AWARDS

• National Energy Globe Award sponsored by the United Nations for the research activity on hydrogen production from biodegradable waste (2013)

• Bozzini Award for "Hydrogen production through anaerobic digestion of different solid and liquid waste", "Sardinia 2007" International Conference on Solid Waste Management

• Bozzini Award for "Effects on leachate quality of different approaches to the concept of environmentally sustainable landfill", "Sardinia 2003" International Conference on Solid Waste Management

• Award "Scientific manuscript of particular relevance" for the topic "Innovations in the management and development of organic agro-industrial waste", awarded in 2018 by the Italian National Research Council in the context of the project supported by Fondazione Cariplo ID 2014-0564 "Organic fraction of the municipal solid waste as a low carbon energy source and biorefinery application by innovative use of duckweed in wastewater phytoremediation (Ducktech)" for the manuscript: Energy recovery from one- and two-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste. Waste Management, Vol. 68, pp. 595-602. ISSN: 0956-053X, doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.06.013, codice Scopus: 1-s2.0-S0956053X17304543.

PATENTS

He is co-inventor of the Italian patent entitled: Process for the Production of a Leaching Mixture from Dairy Residues (application number: 102022000007502, 2022).