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CNR-IBAF
CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) is the Italian Governmental Research Organisation and one of the European leading research institutions. The Institute for Agro-Environmental and Forest Biology (IBAF), focuses on studies of the relationships between biosphere and environment at different scales, from gene expression to the biochemistry of leaf organelles, to single leaves, to individual plants, to populations and plant communities. Emphasis is placed on studying plant resistance to environmental stresses, and to extreme environments. Current studies are concerned with the response of plants to desertification, salinization, extreme CO2 conditions, anthropogenic pollution, tree-line limitation in mountain areas, and absence of gravity in space. There is special focus on identification of the biochemical and physiological bases of mechanisms of plant resistance and adaptation. CNR-IBAF currently coordinates two European programmes (the research and training network Marie Curie “ISONET” and the ESF research programme “VOCBAS” about volatiles compounds and their importance in plant resistance to abiotic constraints and biotic stresses).
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Dr Francesco Loreto studies the limitations of primary and secondary metabolism of plants under environmental constraints. He is leading the CNR sub-project “Structure and Functioning of Terrestrial Ecosystems” which involves 8 researchers and 20 other people including permanent staff, post-doctoral scientists, and Ph.D. students. Francesco Loreto holds the position of Research Director at CNR-IBAF since January 2002. He has been a NATO consultant for the “Science for Peace” programme and is currently a member of the COST-859 (Phytotechnologies) Action. He has been appointed as delegate of the Italian Ministry of Research in the “Bio-economy panel” of the European Commission, and as delegate for the Italian Ministry of Research on the Managing Committee of the COST Action FA-0603 “Plant Proteomics”.
Dr. Carlo Calfapietra studies the effects of climate change on plants. He has been Scientific Secretary of the POP/EUROFACE projects the largest European infrastructure to study the impact of an increase in CO2 concentration on plant ecosystems. He has been Marie Curie fellow at University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA for one year working on the interactions between volatile organic compounds emitted by plants and ozone.
He is actually Researcher at CNR-IBAF after several years at University of Tuscia where he is actually Lecturer of Urban Forestry at the International Joint Degree in collaboration with the PACE University, New York in "Environmental Science for Large Urban Areas".
He is also italian delegate of the COST Action FP0701 on forest fires.