Affiliation: University of Pavia, Environmental Mycology laboratory

Dr. Lidia Nicola is a post-doctoral researcher in the Environmental Mycology laboratory and a contract lecturer in mycology at the University of Pavia, Italy. She obtained her PhD in Biology at Innsbruck University, Austria, in collaboration with the Edmund Mach Agronomical Research Centre, and her project involved discovering the hidden soil microbial diversity under the long-standing problem of Apple Replant Disease, to find eco-friendly solutions for the growers. Her PhD thesis won the Caretta Prize for Environmental and Applied Mycology. Currently, her research is focused on mycology, with two different research lines, the first about the soil fungal biodiversity, the second about the potential of fungi as agents of bioremediation against hydrocarbons and plastics. She has presented her research at several international conferences around the world.