Graduated in Agricultural Sciences in 1981, and is currently a Full Professor in Agronomy and Sustainable Agriculture. He is also part of the Graduate Faculty at the University of Georgia (USA), Dept. of Crop Science. During his career, he has focused on several scientific interests, such as the sustainability of agricultural systems and agriculture/environment relations; agrometeorology and phenology; exploitation of biomass in crop fertilization; the sustainable production of biomass for energy purposes; the quantitative and qualitative management of water resources; aquaponics; and agricultural ecosystem services. He is the author of over 340 scientific publications (101 of which Scopus, index H = 25), and six books, and he was previously the Scientific Director of the Italian Journal of Agrometeorology. He was formerly the Director of the Department of Environmental Agronomy and Vegetable Production (2009-2011) and of the Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources and Environment (DAFNAE) (2012-2019), as well as a member of the Academic Senate of the University of Padua (2015-2019).