Malacological activities
1963: founding member of the new Società Malacologica Italiana, SMI
1962- 1964: multidisciplinary research campaigns of the Società italiana di Scienze Naturali in Apulia and excavation campaigns in the Grotta delle Mura (Monopoli)
1964- 1971: long-term research into the Hydrobiidae faunas in North Italian springs and underground water bodies
1964- 1975: direction of team conducting long-term research into the freshwater malacofaunas of springs in the Province of Milan
1966- 1981: organizer of five national SMI conferences
1967- 1976: organizer of eight national and international malacology symposia
1970- 1982: research into the range of Helicodonta angigyra in Lombardy and the polymorphism of Chilostoma cingulatum gobanzi in the Brescian Pre-Alps
1971: join the Group "G. Gadio" for basic ecology
1971- 1973: member of the steering committee of the Societé Française de Malacologie
1972- 1980: direction of team conducting research into the molluscan faunas of the small lakes in West Lombardy (North Italian) in and their microhabitats
1972- 1981: secretary and treasurer of the SMI
1972- 1984: co-editor of the Malacological Review, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
1972- 1974: responsible for the “malacology”section of the Italo-Swiss Commission for the “Study of the Eutrophication of Lake Lugano, Ceresio”
1974: Organizing Committee of the 5th international congress of Unitas Malacologica Europaea, Milan
1974- 1980: Lake Garda coastal malacofauna research team, with a special interest in the population dynamics of Dreissena polymorpha
1975: responsible for the study of molluscan finds from the excavation programme of the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Calabria in Scalea (Cosenza)
1980: CNR, project aimed to “improve the quality of the environment”: identification guide for animal species present in Italian inland water bodies.
Coordinator for: Vol. 7 , Gastropods I; Vol. 8 , Gastropods II; Vol. 10, Bivalves
1980- 1983: member of the steering committee of Unitas Malacologica Europaea
1980- 2001: research into the Neolithic in the Po Plain area in Fiorano Modenese (MO), Vhò (CR), Spilamberto (MO), Isorella (BS) and Bancole (MN)
1982- 2000: consultant to the Civica Stazione di Idrobiologia ed Acquario of Milan
1982- 2003: collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Liguria in research programmes regarding the Upper Palaeolithic – Bronze Age in Arma dello Stefanin, Arma dell’Aquila, Caverna delle Arene Candide, Grotta del Pertusello and Arma di Nasino
1990- 2001: collaboration with the Museo tridentino di Scienze naturali, Trento, in connection with excavations in the Grotta d’Ernesto, Riparo Dalmeri and Riparo La Cogola and their Würmiano Late-Glacial malacofaunas
1992- 2003: long-term excavation and study programme of the molluscan finds from the Grotta dell’Edera (Trieste), in collaboration with the Venice Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità e del vicino Oriente (sezione di Archeologia)
1993- 2006: specialist contribution to a multidisciplinary research programme conducted in the southwestern Fezzan (Libyan Sahara) by the CIRSA, Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca per le Civiltà e l’Ambiente del Sahara antico
1995- 2002: study of Bronze Age molluscan finds from various Po-Plain sites in collaboration with the Università di Milano, Dipartimentoi di Scienze della Terra
1997: contract lecturer in the archaeological seminars of the Comune di Como, Assessorato alla Cultura. Subject: the use and importance of continental molluscs in archaeology
1998: contract lecturer in the Conservazione dei Beni Culturali degree course, Corso di Bioarcheologia dell’Università di Genova, Dipteris. Subject: continental molluscs as palaeoenvironmental indicators
1998: contract lecturer in the archaeological seminars of the Regione Lombardia, Direzione generale alla Cultura. Subject: understanding past landscapes; the use of molluscs for reconstructing the environment
1999- 2002: consultancy for the Soprintendenza Archeologica per il Piemonte
2000: collaboration with the American mission of the University of California – Berkeley at Çatalhöyük, Turkey
2000: excavations in Sardinia on Monte d’Accoddi ( Neolithic) with the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Sassari and the Università di Genova, Dipartimento di Archeologia
2000: excavations with the Italo-Turkish mission at Aliağa, Kyme (Turkey) with the Università di Catania, the Genova IIAS and the Archaeological Museum of Izmir as part of a research programme into the Neolithic on the Turkish Aegean coast
2001: contribution to the volume “Archeologia dei pellegrinaggi in Liguria” edited by the Soprintendenza Archeologica per la Liguria
2001: contract lecturer in the Corso Superiore di Archeobiologia of the Regione Lombardia, Direzione generale alla Cultura and the Museo Civico Paolo Giovio di Como for museum conservators, cultural heritage workers and archaeological superintendency technicians. Subject: molluscs as palaeoenvironmental and palaeoethnographic information sources
2002- 2004: consultancy for the Ufficio Beni Archeologici della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano-Alto Adige, specialist studies regarding the prehistoric sites of Pigloner Kopf and Santuario di Lasino
2002: collaboration with the Archeological Mission El Salha and Kasura, central Sudan, for the study of ancient Holocene malacofaunas associated with the White Nile
2003: collaboration with the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali for the exhibition “Dentro la conchiglia. I molluschi alla conquista del mondo”
2003: visit to the Neolithic burial ground of Kawa (Dongola, Nubia), under excavation by the Sudan Archaeological Research Society and the Centro Veneto di Studi Classici e Orientali
2003: paper on “The Use of Molluscs in Archaeology” at the Convegno di Biologia e Beni Culturali, 22nd-23rd September at Villa Olmo, Como
2003: research into the evolution of Ligurian Quaternary malacofaunas from the Late-Glacial until the Late Bronze Age
2003: research into the use of large Italian freshwater bivalves for the manufacture of objects during prehistory
2003: contract lecturer in the Masters courses for archaeology and environmental studies graduates, Università di Milano, Dipartimento di Biologia. Lectures on the importance and meaning of molluscs in archaeology.
2004: collaboration with the Museo Gaetano Chierici di Paletnologia of Reggio Emilia for the study of the evolution of malacocoenosis and a contribution to the exhibition on the palaeoenvironmental aspects of the site of Bazzarola
004: research on the meal leftovers from Monte d’Accoddi (SS, Sardinia) in order to evaluate the anthropic impact on the lagoon populations of Cerastoderma glaucum and the alimentary contribution made by this species to prehistoric diets
2004: palaeoenvironmental and archaeological studies for the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Liguria regarding the sites of Sestri Levante (GE), area ex-FIT; Riccò del Golfo (SP) and Luni (SP)
2004: research conducted in Peru, Bolivia and Chile on the use and their symbolic meaning of seashells by Pre-Hispanic populations
2004: contract lecturer in the Masters course “Scienze per i Beni Culturali Archeologici” organized by the Università di Milano, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra
2004- 2010: collaboration with the Uffici Beni Archeologici della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano e Provincia Autonoma di Trento for the site Dos della Forca, Nogarole di Mezzolombardo and La Vela
2005: research conducted in southern Ethiopia on shell ornaments used by regional ethnic groups
2005: evaluation, for the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Liguria, of the molluscs present in deposits disturbed by building work in Rapallo (GE), ex-SALEM and Nuovo Ospedale areas, and Sarzana Portonetti (SP)
2005- 2006: research in Swiss museums and superintendencies (Geneva, Sion, Fribourg, Zurich, Frauenfeld) on freshwater-shell ornaments found on Swiss Neolithic to Bronze Age sites
2006: study of the Neolithic and Bronze Age malacofaunas of the Peştera Ungurească site (Cheile Turzii, Transylvania, Romania), excavated with the collaboration of the Ministero Italiano degli Affari Esteri, the London Prehistoric Society and Resită University
2006: research conducted in South and East Africa on the use of marine and terrestrial shells in ornaments of the Sun, Himba, Turkana, Tsamay and Afar ethnic groups
2007: contract lecturer in the Masters course “Scienze per i Beni Culturali Archeologici” organized by the Università di Milano, Facoltà di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Naturali
2007: member of the Scientific Committee of the Revista Cientifica UDO Agricola, Università de Oriente, Venezuela
2007: lecture on “Shells, a source of palaeoenvironmental evidence” for the series on deserts organized by the ALA Associazione Lombarda Archeologica, Milan
2008: participation in the Italian Archaeological Expedition to the Negev Desert, organized by the International Centre for Prehistoric and Ethnologic Studies
2008: curator of the AIAZ course “Archaeomalacology and communication at the Università del Salento, Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Lecce 13th – 14th May 2008
2009: study for the Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici della Provincia Autonoma di Trento of the malacofaunas of the Square-mouthed Vase Culture site in Riva del Garda (TN)
2009: study for the Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici della Sardegna of molluscan material from the Arrubiu nuraghe, Orroli (Nuoro)
2010: research conducted in Dofar (Oman) involving the collection of present-day species, study of arid environments and comparison with material from ancient Holocene deposits
2010: study for the Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia-Romagna of molluscan faunas at the Neolithic site of Lugo di Romagna (RA)
2010: contract lecturer in the Metodologie nella Ricerca Archeologica course, degree in Scienze dei Beni Culturali, Università degli Studi di Milano
2010: contract lecturer in the Summer School “Human impact on ancient environments: models in environmental archaeology” Feltre (BL) of the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, with the course “Molluscs as a source of archaeological information; anthropological and ecological aspects”
2010: International Conference MESO 2010 Santander, Spain; monographic session “Gastropods and humans in the late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of the eastern Mediterranean”. Communication on: land snails from the Late Glacial and Early Holocene of Italian sites
2011: lecture: “Tools and jewellery sets from shells” for the ALA Associazione Lombarda Archeologica, Milan
2012: Pakistan. Mission to Balochistan in cooperation with University Cà Foscari,Venice and University of Quetta, Pakistan for a
survey in the regions of Utahl and Gadani.
2013: Surevy and malacological research in Balochistan (Pakistan), near Uthal and Siranda Lake with the joint mission of University Cà
Foscari, Venice and University of Quetta, Pakistan.
2014-2015: etnographic research on the use of molluscs at the Metropolitan NY Museum; Musée d’Ethnographie Genève; Ethnographishes Museum Dahlen Berlino.
2015: Madagascar. Stay at the Vezo fishers' village and observations on the gathering and use of sea-shore molluscs.