FRANCESCA CAGNACCI

Research activity

Dr Cagnacci is a permanent researcher at the FEM/CRI in the Applied Ecology group, and leader of the research line ‘Movement and Conservation Ecology’. She initiated and coordinates the bottom-up research consortium EUROMAMMALS, to study terrestrial mammal movement at a large scale, under climatic and human-impact gradients. She has been leading or advising field projects for 20 years on terrestrial mammals, from rodents to large herbivores and carnivores, in a diversity of environments and conservation areas in Europe, North and South America, with a special focus on mountainous and alpine environments. 
Dr Cagnacci has an active network of more than 80 research institutions in Europe and North-America, including Harvard University, University of Oxford and University of California, Berkeley.

Research interests

Francesca Cagnacci is a behavioral and conservation ecologist with research emphasis on ecological and evolutionary determinants of animal behavior, movement, and resource use.  In particular, she looks into the effects of climate and global change on animal spatial distribution and organismal interactions. Her research interests span management and conservation practices at different spatial scales, terrestrial mammalogy, ecology of wildlife diseases and host-parasite dynamics, and adoption of humane measures for the management of problematic wildlife.
Dr. Cagnacci combines biological research with a deep interest in development and application of technology to address conservation issues and animal ecology questions (biologging, data standards).

Websites

Research gate profile 

Scopus  profile

ORCID  profile

Euromammals project 

Bio-logging  society 

Curriculum Vitae

• MSc Biology (University of Milano and Siena);
• PhD Evolutionary Biology (University of Siena);
• Certified Full Professor in Zoology and Associate Professor in Ecology (Italian Ministry for Further Education and Research);
• Faculty affiliate at the College of Forestry and Conservation, at the University of Montana (2012-current).

Honors (summary)

• Hrdy Fellow in Conservation Biology at Harvard University, OEB Dept., Cambridge, USA (2015-2016);
• Invited as guest speaker for international conferences, workshop and seminar series more than 30 times in the last 5 yrs.

Service (summary)

• Sitting on editorial boards, steering committees and evaluation panels of scientific journals, EU Commission/NSF/National funding programmes, PhD schools, scientific societies and associations;
• More than 20 scientific and outreach events organized in the last 5 yrs, including Workshops, Conferences, Summer schools, Public talks and scientific challenges.

 Advisorship (summary)

• More than 40 undergraduate and graduate students’ theses to completion (5 PhDs, 20MScs, 11 BSc, 9 post-MScs Internships);
• 5 PhD students, 2 Post-doc research assistants, 2MSc (current).

Current projects (PI or Co-PI)

• BEARFENCE (Integrated technological system for deterring problematic bears);
• SMOC (Small mammals Monitoring in a Changing world: from community analysis to zoonosis prevalence and space use assessment). Co-PI and Supervisor, FEM/CRI & INN University, Norway;
• AlpBearConnect (Ecological connectivity in the Alpine anthropic matrix: natural reserves and corridors for the conservation of brown bear in the Alps). Co-PI and Supervisor, FEM/CRI, Stelvio National Park & University of Trento, Italy;
• MIHLE (MIgration of a Large Herbivore in Ecosystems under anthropogenic and natural change: the Greater Yellowstone and Central European cases). Co-PI and Supervisor, FEM/CRI & University of California, Berkeley, USA;
• FOR-WILD (Forecasting the effects of global change on ungulate spatial distributions). Co-PI and Supervisor, FEM/CRI & Harvard University/OEB,
• IRSAE (International Research School in Applied Ecology) Coordinator/P.I. as IRSAE partner-FEM/CRI. Norwegian Research Council;
• EUROMAMMALS (European roe deer collaborative project), scientific coordinator, P.I.;
• 2C2T (Roe and red deer in Trentino and Technology), P.I.