Marco is Full Professor (Chair of Forest Management and Conservation) at the University of Molise (Central Italy) and head of the Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Geomatics.
At national level: Since 2021 President of Alberitalia Foundation. Since 2019 member of the National Committee VIA-VAS at the Ministry of Ecological Transition. He has been elected in 2016 as Chairperson of the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (www.sisef.org ) and in 2017 President of Italian Association of Agrarian Scientific Societies (www.aissa.it ). In 2016 he has been appointed as member of the Comitato Nazionale Verde Pubblico - National Board for Urban Green Development, at the Ministry of Environment (IT). He has been the President of FSC–Italia (Forest Stewardship Council) from 2010 to 1012. Since 2000 he is Ordinary Member of Italian Academy of Forest Sciences (AISF), joining the Board since 2008.
At international level: nominated by UNIF–Italian Union of Forest Research Institutes, he is Italian Co-Delegate at IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations), leader of the 4.02.00 Working Group (Forest Resource Inventory and Monitoring) from 2006 to 2013, and former deputy leader of 8.07.01 (Key factors in forest biodiversity), since 2000. From
2010 to 2014 he has been member of the Scientific Advisory Board in EFI (European Forest Institute), SAB Chairman 2012-2014, EFI Fellow n. 13 since 2016, cooperating with the Institute since its foundation. He is member of the Italian Academy of Forest Sciences since 2000 and the Swedish Royal Academy of Forestry and Agriculture, since 2013. He is member of the Team of Specialist “Monitoring of sustainable forest management”, UN-ECE/FAO and Forest Europe, since 2008 and the former ToS “Temperate and Boreal Assessment for the Forest Resources Assessment 2000”, UN-ECE/FAO 2000-2008. Co-author of the State of European Forests, both in 2011 and 2015.
He has a research record of 33 years in the domain of multiresources inventory and forest mapping, forest management and land planning, fire monitoring and biodiversity assessment with special references to old growth forests, deadwood and naturalness. Monitoring for forest management and conservation at National level and in the European context, with experiences in several countries in Africa and Latin America. He has contributed to results directly applicable in supporting forest management and decision processes in forest policy. Research activities span the domain of development and application of new technologies. Current research focus is on land use and land cover changes, mountain forest assessment, land planning for bioeconomy, green infrastructure, fire monitoring and protected areas.
Leader of several research and application projects at national and international level. Member of evaluation committees, selection and recruitment groups, scientific panels, reviewer for research projects at the European Commission and in Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden. Author of more than 250 international papers and books (H-index Scopus 23), Editor in chief of the European Journal of Remote Sensing (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tejr20/current ) and associate editor of several scientific journals.