Prof. Luigi Folco, PhD
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra
Universita’ di Pisa – Italia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7276-3483
CURRICULUM VITAE
Personal Details
Date and place of birth: September 21st, 1965, Rome, Italy.
Nationality: Italian.
Status: Married, father of two
Work address: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
e-mail: luigi.folco@unipi.it
EDUCATION
1998: PhD. Planetary and Space Science Research Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes – UK.
1991: Degree in Earth Sciences (Hons.), University of Siena, Siena – Italy.
EMPLOYMENT
Current Position
2023 – Full Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa-Italy.
Previous Positions
2016 – 2023 Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa-Italy.
2012– 2015 Senior Researcher, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
1998 – 2011 Meteorite curator, National Museum for the Antarctic, University of Siena, Italy.
Visiting Fellowships
2022 Visiting Professor, CEREGE, Universitè d’Aix-Marseille III, Aix En Pce-France.
2008 Invited Professor, Centre Européen de Recherche et d’Enseignement des Geosciences de l’Environnement (CEREGE), Universitè d’Aix-Marseille III, Aix En Pce-France.
2006 Invited Professor, CEREGE, Universitè d’Aix-Marseille III, Aix En Pce-France.
2004 – 2005 Associate Researcher, CEREGE, Universitè d’Aix-Marseille III, Aix En Pce-France.
1992 –1993 Visiting student. Dept. of Earth Science, The Open University, Milton Keynes – UK.
Professional Qualifications
2014 & 2018:Qualification for the position of Full Professor (I Fascia), A4/A1 Geochimica, Mineralogia, Petrologia e Vulcanologia, Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR), Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale DD 1532, 2016, July 29.
2012: Qualification for the position of Professeur des Universités, Section 35 Structure et évolution de la Terre e des autres planète. Ministere de l’Enisegnement Superior et de la Recherche, France.
Academic Responsibilities
2025 – 2028 Chair, Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze e Tecnologie Geologiche [WGE-LM]. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italia.
2023 – Università di Pisa representative. Circle U – WP7 Communication, dissemination & exploitation Task force 7.1: establishing a support service for CU research and educational project.
2023 – Member, National Doctoral Programme in Polar Sciences (DIN-SP) steering committee.
2023 – Member, University of Pisa School of Doctorate in Geosciences and Environment steering committe.
2022 – Manager, Focused Ion Beam – Scanning Electron Microscopy – Field Emission – Gun laborarory, CISUP – Centro per la Integrazione della Strumentazione – Università di Pisa, Italia.
2019 – 2022 Coordinatore di Area per l’Internazionalizzazione (CAI), Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italia. II term.
2018 – Member, Giunta CISUP, Italia.
2018 External evaluator of research proposal for the Scuola di Dottorato Earth and Environmental Science – Università di Pavia, Italia.
2017 – Manager, Scanning Electron Microscopy – Field Emission – Gun laboratory, CISUP, Italia.
2017 – RAR-RAD, Microprep laboratory, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italia.
2016 – 2018 Coordinatore di Area per l’Internazionalizzazione (CAI), Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italia. I term.
2016 – Membro, Giunta CISIM (Centro Interdipartimentale di Scienza ed Ingegneria dei Materiali), Università di Pisa, Italia.
2015 – Member, Science commettee for “Bando grande strumentazione per la ricerca 2015”, Università di Pisa, Italia.
Career Breaks
12 months: sick leave from 13.3.2014 to 8.3.2015.
TEACHING
Teaching Activities
2024 – Scuola di Dottorato di Interesse Nazionale in Scienze Polari, Antarctic Meteorites (2 CFU), Università “Ca’ Foscari” Venezia, Italy.
2024 – Scuola di Dottorato Geoscienze e Ambiente, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Microanalyses for Geologists (1 CFU), Università di Pisa, Italy.
2024 – Scuola di Dottorato Geoscienze e Ambiente, Geowriting (0.5 CFU), Università di Pisa, Italy.
2016 – MSc course, Cosmochemistry (6 CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
2016 – BSc course, Planetary Geology (6CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
2016 – MSc course, Geowriting (1 CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
2021 – 2022 Scuola di Dottorato Regionale Pegaso, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Microanalyses for Geologists (1 CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
2020 – 2022 Scuola di Dottorato in Scienze Polari, Geowriting (1CFU), Università di Pisa, Italy.
2019 – 2022 Scuola di Dottorato in Scienze Polari, Polar Geology and Geomorphology, Meteorites and Ice (2 CFU), Università “Ca’ Foscari” Venezia, Italy.
2016 – 2022 Scuola di Dottorato Regionale Pegaso, Geowriting (0.5 CFU), University of Pisa, Italy.
2012 –2015 MSc course, Planetary Geology (6 CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
2006 – 2007 BSc course, Mineralogy (3 CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Siena, Italy.
2003 – 2007 BSc course, Environmental Mineralogy (3CFU), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Siena, Italy.
International Postgraduate Schools
2023: EUROPLANET SERIES. Rocks from Space and Planetary Defence. Casablanca Morocco (25 – 28 aprile, 2023).
2014: European Mineralogical Union (EMU) School in Planetary Mineralogy; Glasgow, UK (2014, August 24 – September 3).
2010: Microstructure and Physico-Chemical properties of Earth and Planetary Materials, SIMP, GNP and Marie Curie Actions International School, Verbania, Italy (8-12.2.2010).
Supervision of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows
2010 – 2018 Three Post Docs (T. Di Rocco, M. Gemelli, M.D. Suttle). Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
2009 – 2010 Two Post Docs (C. Cordier, C. Suavet,), both FP6 MCA-RTN ERs. National Museum of Antarctica, University of Siena, Italy.
2011 – Five PhD Students, A. Fazio, F. Campanale, Stefani Iannini Lelarge, Roberto Borriello (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy), and J. Nava (Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Italy.
2004 – 2010 Three PhD Students (M. van Ginneken, A. Burroni,), including one FP6 MCA-RTN ESR (MvG). National Museum of Antarctica, University of Siena, Italy.
2014 – Fourteen Master Students. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy.
Supervision of International PhD Students
2021 – Fabian Zahnov, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Abteilung Geochemie & Isotopengeologie, Germany.
2018 – Three PhD students (L. Zannauri, T. Shisseh, M. Leili, University of Casablanca, Morocco) within the Erasmus+ KA 107 programme.
Miscellanea
2007 – 2008 Lecturer. Scuola di Specializzazione per l’Insegnamento Secondario Toscana (SSIS Toscana), class: Meteoriti.
2006 – 2007 Lecturer. Scuola di Specializzazione per l’Insegnamento Secondario Toscana (SSIS Toscana), class: Petrografia.
2005 – 2006 Lecturer. Scuola di Specializzazione per l’Insegnamento Secondario Toscana (SSIS Toscana), class: Mineralogia.
Doctoral School External Examiner (International)
2025 External examiner. Université de Droit, d’Economie et des Sciences Paul Cezanne (Aix-Marseille III, France) École Doctorale des Sciences de L’Environment.
2024 Supervisory Committee. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Abteilung Geochemie & Isotopengeologie, Germany
2023 External Examiner. Universitè Hassan II de Casablanca, Morocco. Centre d’études doctorales, Géoscience Fondamentales et Appliquées.
2021 External examiner. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, Science School of Doctorate.
2019 External examiner. University of Lund, Sweden, Physics School of Doctorate.
2009 External examiner. Université de Droit, d’Economie et des Sciences Paul Cezanne (Aix-Marseille III, France) École Doctorale des Sciences de L’Environment.
RESEARCH
Areas of Research and Main Achievements at a Glance
My research activity started in the early ‘90s and since then it has focused on: i) The cosmochemistry of planetary materials (meteorites and micrometeorites), to explore the origin and evolution of the Solar System, extend the inventory of the Solar System’s composition, and estimate the flux of the extraterrestrial material to Earth. ii) The geology of impact craters and geochemistry of impactites, to contribute to the understanding of the impact cratering process in the Solar System and the collisional history of our planet. iii) The search for meteorites in hot and cold deserts.
I have authored and co-authored over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers (including 1 SCIENCE, 1 PNAS, 2 Nat. Comm., 3 Scientific Reports, 7 Geology, 1 ELEMENTS, 7 EPSL, 18 GCA, 3 JGR, 2 EOS etc.), five journal covers, four book chapters and hundreds of abstracts presented at international conferences. Bibliometry: WOS H-index = 32; 2520 citations.
I have been PI of a number of national projects including the “Antarctic Meteorites” project for the search for meteorites in Antarctica funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA) in 2009, 2013 and 2016; the “Cosmic Dust” project funded by MIUR under the programme Research Projects of National Interest (PRIN) 2015 and PRIN 2022; the “Geology, geophysics and geochronology of Kamil Crater, Egypt” project funded by MAECI under the programme Research Projects of Great Relevance MAECI-PGR in 2013 and 2014.
I have also been involved in a number of international projects fostering planetary science in Europe
and Africa, including the EC funded H2020 “EURO-CARES – European Curation of Astromaterials Returned from Exploration of Space” and MCA-RTN FP6 ORIGINS as partner coordinator, and “Africa Initiative for Planetary and Space Sciences”, as co-funder and member of the Advisory Committee.
I have led 10 Antarctic expeditions for the search for meteorites and MMs within PNRA and 4 in the
Sahara for the search for meteorites and impact craters.
My major research achievements include: i) Recovery of over 3000 meteorite specimens from hot
and cold deserts, including two lunar meteorites from Antarctica; meteorites from Antarctica make up the PNRA meteorite collection available for study worldwide through the National Museum of Antarctica of the University of Siena, Italy. ii) Discovery of the largest known accumulation of MMs on Earth on the tops of the Transantarctic Mountains (Rochette et al., 2008, PNAS; Folco et al., 2008, Geology; Taylor et al., 2016, Elements), which is expected to provide unique qualitative and quantitative information on the MM flux to Earth over the Quaternary (Suavet et al., 2010, EPSL; Cordier and Folco, 2014, GCA; Suttle and Folco, 2020, JGR-Planets). iii) Discovery of Australasian microtektites on the tops of the Transantarctic Mountains (Folco et al., 2008; Geology), the study of which has provided new insights into the origin of this natural impact glass (Folco et al., 2009, GCA; 2010, EPSL; 2010, Geology; 2018, GCA; Rochette et al., 2018; Di Vincenzo et al., 2021 GCA, Chernonozhkin et al., 2021, Nature Communications; Folco et al., 2024). iv) Discovery of the debris generated by a major Tunguska-like event over Antarctica, the study of which has provided information on the type of debris produced during catastrophic airbursts of cometary/asteroidal objects impacting Earth (van Ginneken et al., 2010, EPSL). vi) Discovery and full characterization of the Kamil Crater (Egypt), a type-structure for understanding processes and products associated with the impact of small-scale impactors (Folco et al., 2010, Science; Folco et al. 2011, Geology; D’Orazio et al., 2011, MAPS; Fazio et al., 2014, MAPS; 2016, GCA; Folco et al., 2015; Folco et al., 2018, Geology). vii) Documentation of the meteoritic origin of the iron blade of one of the two daggers belonging to King Tutankhamun through an interdisciplinary investigation led by me (Comelli et al., 2016, MAPS).
These achievements have had wide international media coverage (National Geographic, Discovery
Channel, The New York Times and BBC World), providing a measure of the public engagement and cultural impact of my research group’s work. For my contribution and service to meteoritics and planetary sciences at the international level, I have received awards in 2008 from the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (the Pian delle Tectiti nunatak was named after our discovery of MTKs on its top), in 2016 from the Meteoritical Society (for my service as Councilor) and in 2006, the International Astronomical Union named Asteroid [7006] Folco (for my cosmochemical studies).
I have been invited to present my research at several international conferences and workshops to present my main achievemnts in the field of meteorite and micrometeorite research and impact cratering studies (see below).
I have contributed to the early careers of several excellent researchers in the field of meteoritics and planetary science, now conducting research and teching activities at prestigious university and research institutes in Europe (see below)
Awards and Fellowships
2024: Fellow of the Meteoritical Society; awarded by The Meteoritical Society.
2016: Certificate of Service; awarded by The Meteoritical Society.
2008: Nunatak named Pian delle Tectiti (Victoria Land, Antarctica) after the discovery of microtektites by L. Folco and P. Rochette during the 2006 Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) expedition; awarded by Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR).
2006: Naming asteroid (7006) Folco; awarded by International Astronomical Union (IAU).
2006: Carlo Minguzzi prize, best young Italian geochemist; awarded by the Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology (SIMP).
Major International Collaborations
| Name of collaborator | Faculty/ Department/Centre | University/Institution | Country | Topic of collaboration |
| Pierre Rochette | CEREGE | Aix-Marseille Université | France | Micrometeorite physical properties |
| Matthew Genge | Dept. Earth Science and Engineering | Imperial College, London | UK | Micrometeorite petrology |
| Carole Cordier | ISTerre | Universitè Grenoble Alpes | France | Micrometeorite geochemistry |
| Mario Trieloff | Institut für Geowissenschaften, | Universität Heidelberg | Germany | Noble gas in micrometeorites |
| Birger Schmitz | Division of Nuclear Physics | Lund University | Sweden | Global influx of meteoritic material |
| Regis Braucher | CEREGE | Aix-Marseille Université | France | Cosmogenic nuclide analyses and bedrock exposure ages |
| Ralph Harvey | College of Arts and Sciences | Case Western Reserve University | USA | Antarctic meteorite research |
| Aaron Cavoise | School of Earth and Planetary Sciences | Curtin University | Australia | Shock metamorphism |
| Billy P. Glass | Dept. of Geology | University of Delaware | USA | Petrology of impactites |
Publications
Author and co-author of 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers published in international journals with IF (including SCIENCE, PNAS, Nature Communications, Nature Communications Earth and Environment, Nature Scientific Reports, Geology, ELEMENTS, EPSL, GCA, GPL, JGR, EOS, etc.), including 7 journal covers, 5 book chapters, 9 The Meteoritical Bulletin issues and tens of abstracts presented at international conferences. Please see https://publons.com/researcher/4180426/luigi-folco/
Bibliometric Ratings
WOS H-index = 37 (last 10 years H-index = 16); 3648 citations.
Maximum impact factor 63.8.
Twenty Key Publications (* I am the corresponding author; $I am the project leader; ^ my PhD student or postdoc; C = citations)
- Folco L.*$, Masotta M., Rochette P., Del Rio M.^, Di Vincenzo G. (2024) Australasian microtektites: early target-projectile interaction in large impacts on Earth. Geochemical Perspectives Letters 31, 22 – 26. https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2427
- Suttle MD^, Folco L$, Genge MJ, Franchi IA, Campanale F^, Mugnaioli E, Zhao X (2021) The aqueous alteration of GEMS-like amorphous silicate in a chondritic MM by Antarctic water. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 293, 399-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.11.006 C: 5
- Folco L*$, Reimold WU, El-Barkooky A (2020) Impact Craters and Meteorites: The Egyptian Record. In: Hamimi Z., El-Barkooky A., Martínez Frías J., Fritz H., Abd El-Rahman Y. (eds) The Geology of Egypt. Regional Geology Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15265-9_11
- Suttle MD^, Folco L$ (2020) The extraterrestrial dust flux: Size distribution and mass contribution estimates inferred from the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) micrometeorite collection. Journal of Geophysical. Research – Planets, 125, e2019JE006241. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006241 C: 11
- Suttle MD^, Folco L$, Genge MJ, Russell SS (2020) Flying too close to the Sun – The viability of perihelion-induced aqueous alteration on periodic comets. Icarus 351, 113956, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113956 C: 6
- Suttle MD^, Twegar K, Nava J^, Spiess R., Spratt J., Campanale F^, Folco L$ (2019) A unique CO-like micrometeorite hosting an exotic Al-Cu-Fe-bearing assemblage – close affinities with the Khatyrka meteorite. Scientific Reports9, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-48937-0 C: 11
- Folco L*$, Glass BP, D’Orazio M, Rochette P (2018) Impactor identification in Australasian microtektites based on Cr, Co and Ni ratios. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 222, 550–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.11.017 C: 13.
- Pack A, Höweling A, Hezel DC, Stefanak M., Beck A-K., Peters STM, Sengupta S, Herwartz D, Folco L (2017) Tracing the oxygen isotope composition of the Earth’s upper atmosphere using cosmic spherules. Nature Communications 8, 15702. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15702 C: 39
- Collareta A^, Gemelli M^, D’Orazio M, Pack A, Folco L$ (2016) High crustal diversity preserved in the lunar meteorite Mount DeWitt 12007 (Victoria Land, Antarctica). Meteoritics and Planetary Science 51, 351-371. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.12597 C: 11
- Taylor S, Messenger S, Folco L (2016) Cosmic dust: finding a needle in a haystack. Elements 12, 171-176. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.12.3.171 C: 16
- Folco L*$, Cordier C^ (2015) Micrometeorites. In EMU Notes in Planetary Mineralogy 15, 253–297. https://doi.org/10.1180/EMU-notes.15.9 C: 35
- Cordier C^, Folco L$ (2014) Oxygen isotopes in cosmic spherules and the composition of the near-Earth interplanetary dust complex. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 146, 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2014.09.038 C: 24
- van Ginneken M^, Folco L$, Cordier C^, Rochette P (2012) Chondritic micrometeorites from the micrometeoritesTransantarctic Mountains. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 47, 228-247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01322.x C: 49
- Folco L*$, Di Martino M, El Barkooky A, D’Orazio M, Lethy A, Urbini S, Nicolosi I, Hafez M, Cordier C^, van Ginneken M^, Zeoli A, Radwan AM, El Khrepy S, El Gabry M, Gomaa M, Barakat AA, Serra R, El Sharkawi M (2011) Kamil Crater (Egypt): ground truth for small scale meteorite impact on Earth. Geology 39, 179–182. https://doi.org/10.1130/G31624.1 C: 58
- Folco L*$, Di Martino M, El Barkooky A, D’Orazio M, Lethy A, Urbini S, Nicolosi I, Hafez M, Cordier C^, van Ginneken M^, Zeoli A, Radwan AM, El Khrepy S, El Gabry M, Gomaa M, Barakat AA, Serra R, El Sharkawi M (2010) The Kamil Crater in Egypt. Science 329, 804. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. C: 62
- Suavet C^, Alexandre A, Franchi IA, Gattacceca J, Sonzogni C, Greenwood R C, Folco L$, Rochette P (2010) Identification of the parent bodies of micrometeorites with high-precision oxygen isotope ratios. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 293, 313-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.046 C: 73
- Folco L*$, Glass BP, D’Orazio M, Rochette P (2010) A common volatilization trend in Transantarctic Mountain and Australasian microtektites: Implications for their formation model and parent crater location. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 293, 135–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.037 C: 36
- Folco L*$, D’Orazio M, Tiepolo M, Tonarini S, Ottolini L, Perchiazzi N, Rochette P, Glass BP (2009) Transantarctic Mountain Mountains microtektites geochemical affinity with Australasian microtektites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73, 3694-3722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.03.021 C: 40
- Folco L*$, Rochette P, Perchiazzi N, D’Orazio M, Laurenzi M, Tiepolo M (2008) Microtektites from Victoria Land Transantarctic Mountains. Geology 36, 291–294. https://doi.org/10.1130/G24528A.1 C: 61
- Rochette P, Folco L*$, Suavet C^, van Ginneken M^, Gattacceca J, Perchiazzi N, Braucher R, Harvey R (2008) Micrometeorites from the Transantarctic Mountains. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, 18206-18211. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0806049105 C: 113
Grants (only if Principal Investgator, P.I., or Partner Coordinator, P.C.)
2024 – P.C. SpaceItUp, Spoke 9 – UniPISA. Habitat Space and Science, (ASI – MUR, Contract n. 2024-5-E.0. (612 000 €)
2023 – 2025: P.I., Cosmic Dust II – Cosmochemistry and Space Tweezers Technologies for Solar System Science and Exploration, Italian Ministero della Università e Ricerca (MUR), Progetti di Rilevanza Nazionale, PRIN 2022, ID: 2022S5A2N7. (245 970 €).
2017 – 2020: P.I. Cosmic Dust, Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca (MIUR) through Progetti di Rilevanza Nazionale, PRIN 2015, ID: 20158W4JZ7. (265 521 €). http://cosmicdust.dst.unipi.it/
2017 – 2018: P.I. Meteoriti Antartiche, Ministero della Istruzione, Università e Ricerca through Programma Nazionale delle Ricerche in Antartide (MIUR-PNRA). ID: PNRA2016-00028. (87,900.00 €). http://meteoant.dst.unipi.it/index.php
2015 – 2018: P.C., EURO-CARES: An EU-funded project with the goal of preparing a roadmap of the stages required to establish a European facility for the curation of extraterrestrial materials, particularly materials collected by sample return missions, Party #10 University of Pisa, Horizon 2020 European Commission project, ID: #640190. (1,999,000.00 €).
2014 – 2015: P.I. Meteoriti Antartiche PEA2013, MIUR-PNRA (88,000.00 €).
2014 – 2015: P.C., DUSTER – Dust in the Upper Stratosphere Tracking Experiment and Retrieval PEA2013, MIUR-PNRA (45,000.00 €).
2013 – 2015 P.I., Geology, geophysics and geochronology of Kamil Crater, Egypt: implications for cratering mechanism, impact hazard and the history of the Ancient Egypt, Ministero Affari Esteri Progetti di Grande Rilevanza, Italy (90,660.00 €).
2012 – 2013: P.I., Meteoriti Antartiche MIUR-PNRA, PEA2009/A2.08. (65,000.00 €).
2010 – 2012: P.I., Geophysical Survey of the Kamil Crater, Egypt, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (15,000.00 €).
2010 – 2012: P.I., Studio della materia extraterrestre e formazione di giovani ricercatori, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy (22,000.00 €)
2007 – 2010: P.C., ORIGINS, Research Training Network, European Commission Framework Programme VI – Marie Curie Actions MRTN-CT2006 ID#0355 (2,800,000.00 €).
2003 – 2004: P.I., Planetary differentiation at the birth of the Solar System, Piano di Ateneo per la Ricerca, University of Siena, Italy (7,000.00 €).
Invited Scholarly Presentations/Keynote Speaker at Intl. Conferences
2019: The Kamil Crater. Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution Conference VI, Brasilia, Brasil, 30.9 – 3.10.2019 (Invited)
2019: The cosmic dust complex. 2019 SIMP_SGI-SOGEI meeting Parma, Italy, 16 – 19.92019 (Keynote)
2016: Antarctic meteorite search by the Italian PNRA: an example of small-scale Antarctic meteorite search project. Antarctic meteorite curation workshop, Brussels, October 3-4, 2016 (Invited).
2011: The Kamil Crater in Egypt: discovery and geophysical expedition. Second Arab impact cratering and astrogeology conference (AICACII). Casablanca, Morocco, 14.11.2011 (Keynote).
2010: Antarctic meteorites and tektites: a treasure-trove for planetary science. Korean Geological Society Annual Meeting. Yeongju, Korea, 28.10.2010 (Invited).
2006: Antarctic meteorite research by the Italian Programma Nazionale delle Ricerche in Antartide, PNRA. International Workshop for Antarctic Meteorite Survey (IWAMS). Seoul, Korea, 24.8.2006 (Invited).
Invited Scholarly Presentations/Colloquia
2022: INAF-IAPS web seminars. The near-Earth cosmic dust complex: perspectives from the Transantarctic Mountains micrometeorite collection. (2022, Jan 26).
2017: Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Termine Seminar für Meteoriten- und Impaktforschung SS 2017. Trends in Australasian microtektites: input for modelers. Berlin (2017, May 31).
2013: Department of Physical Science, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. The Open University’s CEPSAR seminars. Micrometeorites. (2013, November 28).
2012: Institut für Geowissenschaften – Geologie, Freiburg, Germany. Geoscience Colloquium. Kamil Crater: a type-structure for small-scale impact craters on Earth. (2012, Jan 9).
2010: Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany. Planetary Science Colloquium. Transantarctic Mountain micrometeorites. (2010, May 26).
Reviewing Activities/Evaluation Panels
2022 Evaluation expert for EUTOPIA European University – Science and Innovation Fellowship Programme.
2020 – 2222 National Research Quality Assessment; GEV 04, VQR 2015-2019, MUR ANVUR (Agenzia Nazionale di Valutazione del Sistema Universitario e della Ricerca – Valutazione della Qualità della Ricerca), Area 04 Scienze della Terra.
2020 Evaluation expert for the Italian MUR “Giovani Ricercatori – Rita Levi Montalcini” programme.
2017 – REPRISE (MIUR) member of the Register of Expert Peer-Reviewers for Italian Scientific Evaluation.
2013: 2013 Award Committee, Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia.
2008 – Evaluation experts for several foreign national research funding agencies including Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), French National Research Agency (ANR), Belgian Fund for Scientific Research-FNRS agency, Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO).
1993 – Referee for international journals including Geology, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research – Planet, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Mineralogy and Petrology, Earth Moon and Planets, Planetary and Space Science, Radiocarbon, Geology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, Nature Communications.
Organization of Scientific Meetings
2024 Programme and Scientific committee. 87th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Bruxelles, UK.
2022 Programme and Scientific committee. 85th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Glasgow, UK.
2020 Programme and Scientific committee. 36th International Geologic Congress, Dehli, India.
2017 Delegate for sponsorships. Geosciences: A Tool in a Changing World. SIMP, SGI, AIV, SAG national conference (participants 1100) Pisa, Italy.
2014 Programme and Scientific committee. 77th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, (600 participants) Casablanca, Morocco.
2006 – present: Chairman and convenor of thematic sessions of several national and international conferences and workshops, including Meteoritical Society Annual Meeting, European Mineralogical Conference, European Planetary Science Conference, International Geological Congress.
Contribution to Early Careers of Excellent Researchers
I have contributed to the early careers of the following excellent researchers within the framework of the ORIGINS (MCA-RTN FP6), Kamil Crater (MAECI) and Cosmic Dust (PRIN 2015) projects. Carole Cordier, former postdoc within ORIGINS (MCA-RTN FP6) project, is now Associate Professor at ISTerre, Grenoble, France. Matthias van Ginneken, former PhD student within the ORIGINS project, is currently research assistant at the Univeristy of Kent, UK. Agnese Fazio, former PhD student supported by MAECI-PGR, is currently research associate at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität of Jena, Germany. In 2014, during her doctoral studies, she was awarded by the Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research, and later received a Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Martin David Suttle, my former postdoc within the PRIN2015 Cosmic Dust project, is now Lecturer in Planetary Science at The Open University, UK.
Scientific Society Memberships
1993 – Member, The Meteoritical Society
2012 – Member, Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology (SIMP)
2012 – Member, American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2017 – Member, European Association of Geochemistry (EAG)
2017 – Founding Member, Africa Initiative for Planetary Science (AFIPS)
2023 – Member, Italian Society of Planetary Sciences (SISP)
Services and Responsibilities – Miscellanea
2024 – Member, Barringer Award Committee, The Meteoritical Society.
2022– Member of the Specialist group on meteorites (GF7), within the SCAR Expert Group on Geological Heritage and Geoconservation
2018 – : Africa Initiative for Planetary Science (AFIPS) Scientific Advisory Committee.
2009 – 2014: Councilor of the Meteoritical Society.
2006 – 2008: Associate Editor of the Meteoritical Bulletin (Meteoritical Society). II term.
2006 – 2008: Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society. II term.
2003 – 2008: Italian delegate of the International Mineralogical Association’s Working Group “Astromineralogy”.
2003 – 2005: Associate Editor of the Meteoritical Bulletin (Meteoritical Society). I term.
2003 – 2005: Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society. I term.
1993 – present: Member of ten Programma Nazionale delle Ricerche in Antartide (PNRA) meteorite search expeditions to Antarctica (1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017), of which eight as field and science leader.
1992 – present: Field and science leader of four meteorite search expeditions to the Sahara desert.
Other Recognitions for Scientific Achievements
2018: MIUR, Premialità docenti (motivation: scientific achievements of the PRIN2015 project).
2017: MIUR, Premialità docenti (motivation: scientific achievements of MIUR and EC projects).
2012 – present: Università di Pisa departmental rating: class “A” (except in 2017: class “B” due career break).
OUTREACH and COMMUNICATION (selection)
Worldwide
My research achievements have had wide international (National Geographic, Discovery Channel, The New York Times, BBC World, etc.) and national (TG1, TG2, TG3, La Repubblica, Meridiani, etc.) media coverage, providing a measure of the public engagement and cultural impact of my research group’s work. Examples:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100722-science-space-egypt-kamil-crater-meteor-meteorite-impact-hazard/
https://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2010.181
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/science/05meteorite.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/8026237/Meteor-crater-found-on-Google-Earth-could-help-prepare-for-future-impacts.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1315568/Massive-meteor-crater-discovered-spotted-Google-Earth.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36432635
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/01/dagger-king-tut-tomb-iron-meteorite-egypt-mummy
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/01/tutankhamuns-blade-made-from-meteorite-study-reveals/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/king-tuts-dagger-was-made-meteorite-180959294/
National
Few examples, including news on TV, TV programmes, exhibits, public lectures:
2020: EuroScience Open Forum. Lecturer for ESOF – Extreme (Trieste 02.10.2020).
2020: La vita sugli altri pianeti. Rassegna Pensiamo insieme il futuro. Tavola rotonda in streaming. Università di Pisa (11.6.2020).
2019: 50th anniversary of the Moon exploration. Lecturer for Luna 50 (Pisa, 17.7.2019) and Man on the MOON (Genova, 19.7.2019).
2018: La Repubblica 2018, Jan 11.
https://www.google.it/amp/s/rep.repubblica.it/pwa/generale/2018/01/10/news/la_spedizione_italiana_a_caccia_di_meteoriti_in_antartide-186239688/ RAI 1 – TG1 – 2018, March 3st.
http://www.rai.it/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-6523dedc-36a8-45b4-8590-6bc3b053b062-tg1.html
2018: RAI 3 Buongiorno Regione Toscana, 2018, March 2nd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr9t6un7e6E&list=PL1FA2185733E86C4A&index=1
RAI 3 – TG3 Toscana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqV-gMlZZZ0&list=PL1FA2185733E86C4A&index=4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWq_Y5ZfuSQ&index=6&list=PL1FA2185733E86C4A
2018: Rai 2 – Tg2 ore 13:00 di venerdì, 27 maggio 2016
2014: Scientific support for the realization of the meteorite display in the Mineralogy hall of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Calci, University of Pisa.
2013 – present: Lecturer, Pianeta Galileo 2013, Tuscany, Italy.
2013: Invited speaker, Incontri con la Scienza, Open Day della Ricerca, Università di Pisa, Italy.
2012: Guest lecturer, Shine 2012 La notte dei ricercatori, Università di Siena, Italy.
2012: Lecturer, Settimana del Pianeta Terra, Università di Pisa, Italy.
2012: Guest speaker, Radio Scienza – Rai Radio 3.
2012: Lecturer, Pianeta Galileo 2012, Arezzo, Italy.
2011: Exhibit, Festa dei Musei Scientifici, Siena, Italy.
2010: Exhibit, Festa dei Musei Scientifici, Siena, Italy.
2010: Lecturer, Pianeta Galileo, 2010, Siena, Italy.
2010: Guest lecturer, Esplorare l’estremo, Museo Nazionale dell’Antartide Sez. Trieste, Italy.
2008 – 2009: Guest Lecturer and Exhibit, Third International Polar Year, various location in Italy.
2008: Guest lecturer, Storie di Scienze e di Scienziati, Accademia dei Fisiocritici, Siena, Italy.