Address:
Università degli Studi di Firenze,
Dipartimento di Biologia, Via Madonna del Piano, 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italia
Contact:
(+39) 055 457 4723
Twitter/X: @David_Baracchi
Orcid ID: 0000-0003-1308-0612
David Baracchi
Associate Professor
PhD in Animal Ecology and Ethology
Social insects display intricate behaviors and remarkable cognitive abilities. I am particularly fascinated by the evolution and adaptability of these traits. Together with my research team, we investigate the neuroethological mechanisms underlying cognition in small-brained insects—primarily bees and wasps—including subtle but critical aspects of their inner world, such as emotional and motivational states that shape their decision-making and interactions with the environment. Our goal is to understand how these insects adapt to changing conditions and make strategic choices that ensure their survival.
Our research also delves into the impact of biotic and abiotic stressors on the well-being and cognition of managed and wild pollinators. We are interested in understanding how factors such as pesticide exposure, pollutants, and disease affect the health and cognitive abilities of these crucial insects. By exploring these interactions, we aim to contribute to the development of sustainable practices and conservation strategies that promote the resilience of social insect communities.
Education
2012
PhD in Animal Ethology and Ecology. University of Florence. Advisor: Prof. Stefano Turillazzi
2007
Master's degree in Behavioural Biology. Honours Summa con Laude. University of Florence. Advisor: Prof. Stefano Turillazzi
2005
Bachelor's Degree in Biological Science. Honours Summa con Laude. University of Florence. Advisor: Prof. Stefano Turillazzi
Invited Talks at Scientific Meetings
2026 XX IUSSI International Congress, Freiburg, Germany
2022 European Student Conference on Behaviour and Cognition ESCBC, Trento, Italy
2022 XIV International Congress Neuroethology, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 XI European Congress of Entomology, Naples, Italy
2016 IFE-GDR Meeting, Paris, France
2015 SFECA Strasburg, France
2014 EURBEE Murcia, Spain
Professional History
2021 -
Associate Professor (Bios-03/A, Zoology) University of Florence, Italy
2018 - 21
Montalcini Research Fellow (RTDb). Assistant Professor. University of Florence, Italy
2015-18
Postdoctoral Researcher, Université Paul Sabatier III, CNRS, France. Prof. Martin Giurfa's Lab
2015-18
Postdoctoral Researcher, Université Paris13, France. Prof. Patrizia d'Ettorre's Lab
2013-15
Marie Curie Research Fellow, Queen Mary University of London, UK. Prof. Lars Chittka's Lab
Principal Funding
2023-2025 National Funding Scheme PRIN-2022 (Role: PI) (€284.000)
2023-2025 National Geographic (Role: Partecipant) (€95.000)
2021-2023 Eva Crane TRUST Grant (Role: PI)(€35.000)
2017-2021 Rita Levi Montalcini Fellowship (Role: PI) (€214.000)
2013-2015 Marie Sklodowska - Curie Fellowship IEF (€221.000)
2009-12 PhD Scholarship Italian Ministry of Research and Education
Flavia Di Cesare (PhD student)
I''m a Master's graduate in Ecology and Ethology, passionate about wild and managed pollinators, and interested in studying the factors that cause their decline, such as the use of synthetic pesticides. My research focuses on the study of bacterial biopesticides, a new frontier in plant protection products, which, although they represent an improvement in terms of toxicity, are still inadequately tested. It is therefore important to study these products in order to understand their true safety. To this end, in addition to acute and chronic lethal effects, I will also be investigating a wide range of sub-lethal effects, particularly those related to behaviour and cognitive abilities. These aspects are crucial for survival, especially for social insects like honey bees and bumble bees.
Federico Ferrante (PhD Student)
I am a psychobiologist who has always been interested in the study of animal behaviour. My research has always focused on cognition and behaviour in invertebrates. After studying vision and learning in jumping spiders at the University of Padua, I moved to Florence to focus on pollinator species. Here I first studied the effects of environmental stressors such as pesticides and microplastics on honeybees. My current PhD project aims to better understand and delineate the biological and behavioural basis of pollinator well-being, in order to promote the protection of species that are critical for biodiversity conservation.
Luigi Baciadonna (Marie Curie Research Fellow)
I am a comparative psychologist with a research interest in the evolution of cognition and in the expression and perception of emotions across different species from invertebrates to vertebrates. The current project, supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship program (FEER-BEES), adopts a multicomponent approach, including behavioural, neuro-physiological, and cognitive analyses to characterize potential emotional states in invertebrates. I am focussing on fear in honey bees given the tractability of these insects for all levels of analysis. The overall goal of the project is to advance our knowledge on the presence of emotional states in honey bees by unravelling the underlying neural mechanisms and the phylogenetic link between these mechanisms and those of mammals, including humans. The question as to whether invertebrates have basic forms of emotions is relevant and timely considering the current debates around non-human animals capacity of experiencing subjective feelings. I work primarily at the Institute of Biology Paris Seine (IBPS), Sorbonne University, Paris – France under the supervision of Prof Martin Giurfa. Currently, I am on a six months secondment at Baracchi’s lab.
Former Lab Members
(Former Postdoctoral Fellows)
Dr. Giulia Ricciardi (2023-2024) (now Lab. Technician (Product Safety) at Ecol Studio_Lifeanalytics)
Dr. Massimo de Agrò (2021-2022) (now postdoc at CIMeC, University of Trento)
Former (Postgraduate Student/Research Assistant)
Dr. Elisa Pasquini (2021-2022) (now PhD at CIMeC, University of Trento)
Dr. Eleonora Mannino (2021)
Dr. Stefania Smargiassi (2019) (now Post doc at University of Turin)
Dr. Daniele Carlesso (2019) (now Postdoc at University of Konstanz)
Former (Visiting Researcher / Erasmus Students)
Dr. Daniela Daniela Alejandra Torres Garcia (2025) (Research Internships Abroad – BEPE)
Dr. Natalia Berrazueta (2024-2025) (Tropimundo Erasmus Mundus)
Dr. Rafael Carvalho Da Solva (2024) (Sorbonne University)
Dr. Noorhidayah Binti Mamat (2024) (Universiti Malaya)
Prof. Nurul Ashikin Binti Abdullah (2024) (Universiti Malaya)
Dr. Mirela Dragan (2023) (University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest)
Prof. André Rodrigues de Souza (2023) (University of São Paulo)
Dr. Eva La Costa Morcillo (2023) (Erasmus+ Programme)
Dr. Maria Theocharidou (2022) (Erasmus+ Programma)
Dr. Narmin Ilgar Beydizada (2022) (Masaryk University)
Dr. Keteoglou Makrina (2022) (Erasmus+ Programme)