Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences of the University of Perugia. He obtained the qualification for full professor in 2014. From 1995 to the present he has held several courses concerning tree cultivation and olive growing, both at the University of Perugia and at the University of Malta.
He was a lecturer at the International Masters in Olive-Growing and Οleotechnia plating held in Perugia in collaboration with the International Olive Oil Council (IOC). He has carried out an intense research activity on: characterization / evaluation of olive cultivars of national, international and local interest; flower and fruit biology, physiology, fruit ripening, farming, pruning, irrigation, soil management, harvest mechanization and olive oil quality; He was responsible for several research projects funded both by public institutions and private companies. He has worked as an expert / consultant in numerous countries in the field of international projects concerning olive growing: Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Eritrea, Greece, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia. He has conducted research on fruit physiology / biochemistry at the University of Sheffield (UK) and presented the results of his research in various national and international conferences. He has been president / member of numerous scientific committees of national and international conferences, in particular on olive growing. He is the author of more than 260 articles, many of which are published in international journals. He worked as a contact for several international magazines. He is an olive oil taster. Since 2011 he has been the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the Italian National Olive Pruning Championship. He is a member of the Italian Horticultural Society (SOI), where he coordinated the Olive-Oil work group from 2011 to 2014. He is a member in Italy of the National Olive and Oil Academy where, since 2010, he is a member of the Academic Council and Secretary of the same.