I study he role of biologically-based motivations in the formation of socio-political phenomena using agent-based modelling techniques. In particular I look at how behaviour inhibition and activation, as well as interpersonal attitudes can shape the emergence of complex polities.

Current main research interests are concerned on diffusion of ICT among social actors of territorial systems: citizens(individuals and households), enterprises and governmental bodies. Most used methodological tools are , so far, multivariate statistics and Social Network Analysis.
I’d like to apply an ABM approach in the context of my PhD research project, aimed to observe the different modes of collaboration among universities and enterprises and tehir different effectiveness in terms of creation and spread of new knowledge.

My interests are focused on the development of new methodologies capable of exploring the complex relations between time, space and human behavior. Simulation, game theory and spatial analysis are some of the techniques that I use to explore different research questions, from the relation between environment and culture to the evolution of warfare.
I’m also the project manager of Pandora, an open-source ABM platform specifically designed for executing large scale simulations in High-Performance Computing environments.

My experience is diverse, with research in spatial analyses and GIS, ecosystem modeling, landscape ecology, database management, biogeographical relationships of birds and plants, species/habitat relationships, wildlife and pastoral livestock mobility, spectroscopy, cluster analysis, and telemetry techniques. Research projects are ongoing in Colorado, the contiguous US, Kenya, Mali, and Tibet.

Agent-based models of human behaviour, from cognitive modelling through to cognitively-rich social simulation.