Diego Bianchi
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Biography
DDB has a background in Agricultural Science and Circular Biotechnology.
He graduated in Italy at University of Turin (2018) and University of Milan (2020), where he explored the interdisciplinary relationships between bioeconomy, microbiology and sustainable agriculture. His dissertations covered the practical application of mycorrhizae as biostimulants in cereals, as well as the potential of seaweeds and cyanobacteria for plant growth and protection.
His passion for the Kingdom of Fungi began in 2016 when he started delving into the pivotal role of the ancient arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant evolution. This fundamental relationship dates back to 450-400 million years ago to the early colonization of land by plants and continues to be a critical relationship for the conservation and resilience of ecosystems in the wild, as in agricultural fields nowadays in terms of healthiness and productivity.
Current research
DDB joined the Discipline of Botany as a PhD student in January 2021 with a scholarship funded by DAFM (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine), as part of the BIOCROP project (grant number 2019PROG705). His research involves the isolation of a new library of fungal endophytes from wild grasses which can be found growing in several contrasting habitats. These endophytes will be selected and screened on spring barley for plant growth biostimulation in optimal, semi-optimal and abiotic stress conditions. Bioprotection from three severe fungal pathogens will be investigated as well and include Net-blotch (Pyrenophora teres), Take-all (Gaeumannomyces tritici), Ramularia leaf-spot (Ramularia collo-cygni).
Expertise
DDB has 7-years of hands-on expertise that span from isolating and bioprospecting novel strains of filamentous fungi, managing a 1000+ isolates biobank, molecular characterization, designing small to large scale field/glasshouse trials, optimizing and developing laboratory/field protocols, delivering small-scale solid and liquid state fermentations, isolating bioactive fractions for biochemical testing, as well as tutoring/lecturing for undergraduate students.
Artistic Project
DDB is also a pioneering visual artist who blends science communication with video-making/photography. His project Fungal Galaxies (www.fungalgalaxies.com) explores and celebrates the spectacular biodiversity of filamentous fungi in unprecedented ways, challenging what science is and what it can be, promoting alternative STEM-growth engagement and public awareness to the silent wonders behind biodiversity. Officially launched in February 2025 after many years in the making, this is still an ongoing project and custom-made services can be directly queried at DDB’s main email contact. His exhibitions and public activities he has been confirmed so far are listed below:
Native Species Festival (Dublin, Ireland) / 17-19th May 2025
Mary Robinson Climate Conference (Ballina, Ireland) / 26-27th May 2025
Biodiversity Week at National Botanic Gardens (Dublin, Ireland) / 16-25th May 2025
FEMS Micro (Milan, Italy) / 14-17th July 2025
Irish Fungal Society Conference (Dublin, Ireland) - 19th June 2025
British Science Festival (Liverpool, UK) / 10-14th September 2025[Text Wrapping Break]
Contacts
Supervisor
Trevor Hodkinson (hodkinst@tcd.ie)