ABOUT ME
I am an ESA/AURA Astronomer at STScI, as part of the HST/STIS instrument team. My research interests are mainly related to probing and interpreting the physics and properties of the interstellar medium (ISM), feedback and outflows in different galaxy types through the use of integral field spectroscopy and the comparison of the observed data with ionisation models. My current main work is focused on the study of ISM properties of the ionized and (cold and warm) molecular gas in metal-poor galaxies considered high-z analogs, using multi-wavelength datasets, including HST/COS UV spectroscopy, JWST/MIRI and ALMA datasets and ground-based optical spectroscopy (e.g., Keck/KCWI, VLT/MUSE), as part of the CLASSY team.
My Ph.D. project (October 2016–September 2019; final defense on March 16, 2020), developed under the supervision of Dr Giovanni Cresci and Dr Filippo Mannucci at the University of Bologna in collaboration with the Arcetri Observatory, was focused on the study of ISM physics and feedback mechanisms in both local active galactic nuclei and star-forming galaxies through the use of Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS).
My interest in the study of ISM in spatially resolved local galaxies began during my Master thesis. This work was focused on the investigation of the global role of star formation and accretion activities in nearby Seyfert galaxies, in order to understand how they influence each other, following a multi-wavelength approach. Specifically, I wanted to constrain the properties of molecular gas, and assess whether and to what extent the radiation produced by the accretion onto the central black hole affected the CO line emission, mainly on the basis of ALMA and Herschel data .
My work as a Ph.D. student has been mainly related to the study of ISM properties. One project I have been working on is about the properties and feedback mechanisms in local Seyfert galaxies observed with MUSE, characterized by extended outflows traced by the ionized gas. Specifically, I developed a brand new approach to disentangle the disk from the outflow and to study the excitation differences between the two components, which gave us new insights on the outflow properties and structure. Then, I have been awarded a grant to visit for seven months the University of Santa Cruz California, to work on a project focused on studying simultaneously metallicity and ionization parameter in star-forming galaxies with the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey (P.I Bundy), through a Bayesian inference analysis, under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Bundy and Dr. Francesco Belfiore. Our aim was to understand how ionization parameter varies within galaxies of different stellar masses, and the nature of the observed relation between ionization parameter and metallicity (Mingozzi et al. 2020).
From October 2019 to October 2020, I did my first postdoctoral position at the Padova Observatory, working with Dr Bianca Poggianti and her group on the GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies (GASP) survey (P.I. B. Poggianti). My main aim was to investigate the presence and properties of atomic and molecular inflows/outflows in these peculiar objects, to trace their cold gas content, their relation with nuclear activity and the interplay between the interstellar and intergalactic medium.
From November 2020 to November 2023, I was a postdoctoral researcher at STScI in Baltimore in the MINGLE and GREENS research groups, working with Dr. Bethan James and Dr. Alessandra Aloisi. My work was focused on the analysis and interpretation of the multi-phase interstellar medium, chemical evolution, and physical conditions of nearby star-forming galaxies with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and supporting optical ground-based observations including VLT-MUSE and SDSS spectroscopy.