Assunta Russo is a PhD student in Sustainable Agricultural and Forestry Systems and Food Security at the Department of Agriculture of the University of Naples, Federico II, in collaboration with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), Portici (IT). She has a Master's degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the university of Campus Bio-Medico of Rome (2019). Her research activity aims to characterize the functional basis and metabolic pathways of the complex network of trophic interactions and signalling among plants, soil-beneficial microorganisms and pests and their natural antagonists thanks to measurements of primary metabolism (photosynthesis, photorespiration, mitochondrial respiration and photosynthetic limitations) and secondary metabolism (emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)).