Donatella Spano

Donatella Spano, from Sassari, full professor at the University of Sassari. The motivation for the award reads “For the important contribution that his research of absolute international level has given to the expansion of studies on climate science through an intense and incisive research and teaching activity in the field of biometeorology with particular reference knowledge of the impacts of climate change on agricultural and forestry systems. For the enthusiasm with which she has always dedicated herself to research and university teaching and to the dissemination of scientific knowledge and to the commitment with which she has transferred the themes of environmental protection to an institutional role by promoting, at a local and international level, active policies for the mitigation of climate change”.

An internationally renowned scientist, she has contributed to broadening studies on climate science through intense and incisive research and teaching activity in the field of Biometeorology and to the promotion of mitigation and adaptation policies. she was among the first scientists nationwide to understand the risks of climate change on agricultural and forestry systems and natural resources. She has promoted and coordinated research projects on agrometeorology, developing evaluation models and scenario analysis on water resources and fires. The results of his research have received important international recognition. With extraordinary enthusiasm she built an interdisciplinary research group and promoted the establishment of a section of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change in Sassari. She was co-founder and president of the Italian Society of Climate Sciences. The passion for science and for its understanding has always made her appreciate the need for correct communication of scientific messages. In this sense, the coordination of reports for the communication of climate risk aimed at tracing the current and future picture of the impact of changes in Italy and in the G20 countries is tireless.

At the University of Sassari she also held the position of Pro-Rector for Research. She currently coordinates the research doctorate in Agrometeorology, the first example in Italy of advanced training developed with the intention of combining the knowledge of the physical sciences with the biological and agronomic ones. She currently represents the University of Sassari in the first national doctorate on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. In this sense, she has always worked to ensure that research activities are built on high skills and on the comparison of young researchers with the international scientific community. Furthermore, she has been able to make his scientific skills available at the service of Sardinia, carrying out the role of Councilor for the Defense of the Environment, promoting, among other things, active policies for the mitigation and adaptation to climate change, including the Regional Strategy of Adaptation to Climate Change, which received the coveted 2019 Sustainable PA Award. By virtue of these policies, she coordinated the Energy and Environment commission of the Italian Conference of the Regions.