Donatella Spano

Donatella Spano is Full Professor and Scientific Coordinator of the PhD programme in Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology of Agricultural and Forestry Ecosystems at the University of Sassari, Italy. She also coordinates the Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology Laboratory at the same university and serves as Senior Member of the Strategic Council of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC). A founding member and former President (2015–2016) of the Italian Society for Climate Sciences, Prof. Spano has held numerous high-profile roles including Regional Minister for the Environment of Sardinia (2014–2019) and Pro-Rector for Research at the University of Sassari (2009–2014).

Education

• Degree in Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari
• Three-year Post-Doctoral specialisation in Biometeorology, University of Sassari

Research Focus
Prof. Spano’s work lies at the intersection of agrometeorology, biometeorology, and ecophysiology. Her team investigates the energy and mass exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere using advanced micrometeorological techniques such as Surface Renewal. She pioneered temperature-based phenological models to quantify chilling requirements and degree-day accumulation. Current research lines include climate-change impacts on crop yields (coffee, olives, maize), fire-behaviour modelling (danger indices and propagation), and the development of integrated systems for quantifying net CO₂ exchanges at urban and territorial scales.

Across her recent publications, two dominant themes emerge: (1) climate-change projections and their sectoral impacts, where process-based and ensemble models are used to evaluate water demand, yield trends, and fire risk under future climates, and (2) micro-to-macro scale biometeorological observations, combining eddy-covariance data, phenological monitoring, and sensor-network optimisation to refine predictive models.

Scientific Awards & Recognition

• Medal of the University of Sassari for best scientific production (2012)
• Best Practice Paper Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (2001, co-recipient)

Advising & Grants
Prof. Spano has chaired more than 40 doctoral and master theses. She is responsible for the scientific cooperation agreement with the University of California, Davis, a collaboration active since 1993. She leads or participates in numerous EU-funded projects focused on climate-change adaptation, sustainable farming strategies, and integrated fire-risk management systems.

Laboratory & Team Leadership
Since 2006 she has directed the Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology Laboratory at the University of Sassari, managing a team of 25 researchers, post-docs, and PhD students in cutting-edge experimental and modelling activities.