Supervisor(s): Prof. Roberto Cardelli and Prof. Lucia Guidi
Research Field: Soil chemistry
Keywords: Soil, Sustainability, Fertility, Climate change
Indirizzo: Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
giacomo.bianchini@phd.unipi.it
Giacomo is a Ph.D. student in Soil Chemistry at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (University of Pisa). His research is aimed to study the use of two by-product of pyrolysis, biochar and wood distillate, as soil improvers to increase health and long-term fertility of lands. In fact, the use of these products is effective to counteract the effects of soil depletion and mitigate the effects of climate changes. His interests relate also with tropical fruit farming, especially dragon fruit and guayaba.
His study background includes a bachelor’s degree in “Agricultural Sciences” and a master’s degree in “Natural resources management for tropical rural development”, in which he carried out a thesis on micropropagation of Acca sellowiana and Moringa oleifera, two tree crops from South America. He also spent, as student, an Erasmus stint abroad at the University of Lisbon, where he focused on horticulture and biotechnologies. His Ph.D. project names “Combined use of innovative fertilisers to counteract soil degradation and improve fertility; can biochar and wood distillate help soil?” and his work on soil respiration, enzymatic activity, and nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics aims to deepen knowledge about the effect of these soil improvers to optimize their effectiveness and help improve some critical issues in agriculture.
