Teaching and supervising experience

Photo by Enrico Caprio

Teaching experience

Independent course leadership (full course responsibility)

  • 2021 Part-time Professor — “BIO 4920 — Seminar I: Evaluating Science” (100-hour contract). Undergraduate degree in Biology — University of Ottawa, Canada. Independently designed and delivered weekly seminars for 20+ undergraduates: critical analysis of ecology papers (design, stats, conclusions), 20–30 min student presentations and peer-review workshops.

Invited lectures (research-led)

  • 2025, 2024 (1h each) — “Body size and growth: studying the effects of climate change using long-term datasets”. MSc Biology, University of Lausanne (Dr Pierre Bize).
  • 2023 (1h) — “An early-career researcher’s journey into open science”. CUSO workshop on Open Science, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
  • 2023 (1.5h) — “Body shapes and growth: studying the effects of climate change using a long-term dataset”. MSc in Evolution, Ecology & Systematics (EES-LMU), Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Germany (Prof Niels J. Dingemanse).
  • 2021 (1h) — “Winter foraging: food hoarding under climate limitation”. BSc Biology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland (Assistant Prof Suvi Ruuskanen).
  • 2020 (2h) — “Predator-prey interactions: climate and fragmentation in the boreal environment”. MSc Biology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy (Assistant Prof Andrea Galimberti).

Teaching assistant

  • 2015 (40h) “Zoological Sampling Methods” (field course). MSc Environmental Biology — University of Torino, Italy.
  • 2015 (60h) “Plant Ecophysiology” (laboratory). MSc Environmental Biology — University of Torino, Italy.

Supervising experience

Summary: 10 thesis projects across 5 countries, leading to 4 publications/preprints, conference presentations and travel grants for students.

Main supervisor

2026

  • Anna Kohler. MSc thesis — University of Zurich, Switzerland. “Effects of heatwaves on the behaviour and physiology of nestlings of an urban-breeding species, the Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)”. Ongoing.

  • Federica Friso. Erasmus+ intern — University of Padova, Italy. “Investigating effects of heatwaves on the behaviour of nestling Alpine swifts using camera traps”. Ongoing.

2025

  • Carla Dreon. MSc thesis — La Rochelle University, France. “Phenotypic plasticity, heritability and selection of laying dates in a long-lived bird, the Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)”. Outcomes: 2 travel grants (EOU conference, oral presentation), article in preparation.

2024

  • Monti Spinas. MSc thesis — University of Zurich, Switzerland. “Extreme temperature effects on Alpine swift nestling survival and growth”. Outcomes: 2 articles in preparation; results presented at 2 conferences in 2025 (EOU Bangor and CIO Lecce). Official supervisors: Lukas Keller (University of Zurich), Pierre Bize (Swiss Ornithological Institute).

Co-supervisor

2024

  • Bashar Jarayseh. MSc internship — University of Munich, Germany. “Long-term effects of early-life developmental conditions in Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)”. Outcomes: article under review (Journal of Animal Ecology), preprint available. Co-supervisor: Pierre Bize (Swiss Ornithological Institute).

2023

  • Tanya Li. Honours thesis — University of Ottawa, Canada. “The effect of climate change on the laying date of Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)”. Co-supervisors: Julien Martin (University of Ottawa), Michela Dumas (University of Ottawa).

  • Chris Cameron. Honours thesis — University of Ottawa, Canada. “The impact of individual heterozygosity on longevity and reproductive success in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer)”. Main supervisor: Julien Martin (University of Ottawa).

2022

  • Bernadette Chan. Honours thesis — University of Ottawa, Canada. “Genetic variation of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in wild marmot population (Marmota flaviventer)”. Main supervisor: Julien Martin (University of Ottawa).

  • Yasmeen Hichri. Honours thesis — University of Ottawa, Canada. “Sexual dimorphism in the Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)”. Main supervisor: Julien Martin (University of Ottawa). Co-supervisor: Michela Dumas (University of Ottawa).

2020

  • Guido Marcoz. Bachelor thesis — University of Torino, Italy. “Food hoarding negli uccelli: confronto delle strategie (Food hoarding in birds: comparison of strategies)”. Main supervisor: Dan Chamberlain (University of Torino).