Born and educated in Milan (Italy) I began my academic career with an undergraduate degree in Arts, specialising in Media and Communication as well as language teaching. My early professional roles are rather diverse and include two years as a Marketing and Communication Officer for a theatre company and one year as a librarian. As a recipient of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, I completed my PhD at the University of Sydney in 2002, with a thesis examining the impact of computer-mediated interaction and communication on language learning. This was a pioneering study when it began in 1998; it led to a subsequent project and a publication that has received over 200 citations and is considered a seminal paper in the area of distance language teaching and learning. 
After 20 years as a lecturer and researcher in languages and applied linguistics, in 2018 I joined the Academic Development team in the Teaching Innovation Unit at UniSA, where I have applied my extensive experience in teaching and learning to support staff in their curriculum innovation and quality learning design. My role in the TIU also involved managing and facilitating the Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants application and assessment process. 
I am a creative, highly skilled curriculum designer and have been the recipient of several teaching and learning innovation grants, including a Seed Grant from the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching for the project "Helping First Year Students Flourish through Languages: Integrating Positive Psychology, Transition Pedagogy, and CLIL Principles." More information about this project can be found on the L2Flourish website. In recognition of my leadership in teaching and curriculum design, I was awarded a Senior Fellowship of AdvanceHE, in 2019. 
My research interests focus on socio-emotional learning and student and staff wellbeing, particularly from a relational perspective. I have published articles in professional journals investigating the role of emotion communication, humour, and self-disclosure in building rapport, as well as looking at the potential of text analytics to gain insight into students' learning experiences. I completed the 16-week Instructional Coaching Institute offered by Jim Knight and am passionate about offering professional development opportunities that empower educators, by employing coaching and mentoring approaches. My most recent interests are in the area of inclusive curriculum design, with a specific focus on the experiences of neurodivergent students and staff in higher education.