Flavio was born in Italy and spent most of his life hiking, studying, and working in the mountains that surround his hometown in the central Alps. He studied natural sciences at the University of Milan (Italy) and after that worked as a consultant biologist in Northern Italy.

"A phone call received on my cell phone, while walking my dog in the snow in December of 2002, changed the course of my life dramatically. I was looking to learn and broaden my experience in the wildlife biology and education fields and I felt the need to learn a new language to use to communicate and interact with people. So, in 2002 I started applying to job postings all over the world. Because of that December phone call, I came to the U.S. for the first time in January of 2003 to work at Glen Helen Raptor Center in Yellow Springs, Ohio. There I met the person that is now my wife. After moving around the U.S. for a few years I 'landed' in Vermont in 2007 and became part of the UVM and Rubenstein community".

Flavio earned a Master's degree in Wildlife Biology at UVM in 2009 with a thesis that identified priority conservation areas for grassland birds in the Champlain Valley of Vermont. Flavio is now a Phd candidate in Natural Resources and is working with his advisor, Allan Strong, on a project that is using landscape context as a framework to quantify multifunctionality of agricultural systems. Even though he loves visiting his mountains in Italy, he is now happy to call Burlington home.