Biography

Barbara De Lucia is an associate professor at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy. She is currently conducting research at the Department of Agro-Environmental and Territorial Sciences (DISAAT-UNIBA) working in the agronomy and horticultural systems macro-sector. She did her PhD in landscape design.

De Lucia has also conducted research outside Italy and studied some aspects of plant physiology of horticultural species, principally at the 'Institut für Nutzpflanzenwissenschaften und Ressourcenschutz (INRES Horticulture and Crop Sciences) of the University of Bonn (Germany), under the supervision of Professor Noga. Her research was on the "Theoretical study of fluorescence and its applications to improve the performance of horticultural crops." At the INRES labs, she carried out innovative techniques of fluorescence imaging (PAM Imaging and Multiplex 3).

Her research activity focuses on flower and ornamental species, with special attention to: i) the characterization and morpho-physiological quality of nursery plants cultivated with sustainable "in vivo" propagation techniques (seeds and cuttings); ii) the biology of ornamental crops grown in open field and in protected environments, including soilless systems; iii) ecological factors (light and temperature) on the soil-plant-atmosphere system; iv) ecological factors and their relations with the quantitative and qualitative aspects of production; v) product innovation (such as Aloe, native Mediterranean species, Australian species, bulbous plants, orchids) as well as investigating composted soil and peat-free composted growing media from biomass of agricultural and agro-industrial waste; vii) environmentally friendly farming techniques: mulch from renewable resources, irrigation monitoring with FDR probes, substances with bio-stimulating activities, biofertilizers; viii) interaction between protected cultivation and environmental sustainability; ix) agronomic inventory for life cycle assessments); x) flowering schedule; xi) overall quality of floricultural products; xii) agricultural management with low environmental impact of urban and peri-urban green spaces, choice of species for public and private green areas in a low-maintenance Mediterranean environment.