Outreach, media coverage, and graphics

Talks for the general public

• Climate change board game activity for the Board Games night at the Museum of Zoology, within the Cambridge Festival (20th March 2024)
• “Looking into the past to inform the future” Online talk for the Arthur Rank Hospice organised by the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge (19th October 2023)
• Board game activity for the Board Games night at the Museum of Zoology, within the Cambridge Festival (22nd March 2023)
• Video-interview (in Italian) for MeetScience (11th May 2022)
• “Women in climate change – Donne e cambiamento climatico” webinar (in Italian) organised by Wikimedia foundation and Wikidonne (2nd December 2021)
• “Climate change is not a game… but what if it was?” talk for the Cambridge Zero Climate Change Festival (7th November 2020)
• Video-interview (in Italian) for MeetScience (12th October 2020)
• “Climate change is not a game… but what if it was?” virtual talk organised by the Postdoc of Cambridge Society (16th April 2020)
• “Back to the future: species distribution through time”, outreach talk within the “Celebrating Women in Science and Conservation” event at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge Science Festival. (7th March 2020) Video.
• “Ancient DNA“, outreach talk within the AIRIcerca Cambridge Chapter Spritz of Science series. (2nd February 2020)

Talks and outreach activities for schoolchildren

• “Climate change” activity for Home Education Day, Natural History Museum London, (September 2024)
• Supporting scientist for the “Cambridge Future Museum Voices” program (April 2024)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 11-13 students, “Meet the expert” program at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (February 2023, 3 sessions)
• Practical session for school children aged 4-11 about prehistoric art at the Museo di Geopaleontologia e Preistoria dei Colli Albani, Velletri (Rome. Italy). (January 2024)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 8-10 students, “Meet the expert” program at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (Sepember 2023, 1 session)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 8 students, “Meet the expert” program at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (June 2023, 2 sessions)
• Online presentation “Cambiamenti climatici, la lezione del passato”. Liceo delle science umane, Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Marisa Bellisario di Inzago (Milan, Italy). “AIRIscuole” program, International Association of Italian Researchers (March 2023).
• “Back to the Earth: climate change and evolution”, Sancton Wood School, Cambridge (March 2023)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 10 students, “Meet the expert” program at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (February 2023, 1 session)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 10 students, “Meet the expert” program at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (January 2023, 3 sessions)
• “C’era DNA volta“, online presentation for schoolchildren during Festival della Scienza di Genova (October 2022)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 12 students, “Meet the expert” program at the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (May 2022)
• Online presentation “Cambiamenti climatici, la lezione del passato”, Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Majorana di Martina Franca (Taranto, Italy). “AIRIscuole” program, International Association of Italian Researchers (April 2022).
• “Evolution quiz” Online activity with schoolchildren for the “Young Zoologist Club”, Museum of Zoology, Cambridge (February 2022).
• Meeting with the students from Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Cesare Baronio di Sora (Frosinone, Italy) “AIRIscuole” program, International Association of Italian Researchers (November 2021).
• “Animali e clima: una sfida impossibile?” online presentation for schoolchildren during Festival della Scienza di Genova (October 2021)
• “Natural selection” Online activity for the “Young Zoologist Club”, Museum of Zoology, Cambridge (February 2021).
• “Climate change, Un gioco da tavolo per capire il cambiamento climatico” online talk for the students of Liceo Mercalli, Napoli. (December 2020).
• “Un gioco da tavolo per capire il cambiamento climatico” for FuturoRemoto 2020, Science Festival from Città della Scienza di Napoli (November 2020).
• “Il cambiamento climatico non è un gioco… ma se lo fosse?” for “FermHAmente 2020“, Science Festival in Fermo (October 2020)
• “Climate change” talk and boardgame activity with Year 10-12 students, for “Meet the expert”, Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. (February 2020)
• “Guess the skull” hands-on activity at Kettlefield Primary School, Dullingham, Newmarket. (March 2019)
• Talk: “Genes, culture and diet: unbreakable links“, Liceo Galileo Galilei, Trieste. Project “Un pozzo di scienza”, organized by Hera and Regione Emilia-Romagna. (March 2015)
• Talk: “Genes, culture and diet: unbreakable links“, Liceo Laura Bassi, Bologna. Project “Un pozzo di scienza”, organized by Hera and Regione Emilia-Romagna. (February 2015)
• Guide in archaeological sites for schoolchildren during fieldwork (2005-2008)
• Talks on the topics of Prehistory, Human Evolution, and Biological Evolution for classes ranging between Key Stages 3 and 4 Scuola Pontificia Pio IX, Roma (2003-2005)

Organisation and volunteering for outreach events

• Darwin Day 2024: organiser and moderator for MeetScience of an interview with Chiara Ceci about Charles Darwin.
• 2023-2024: Organiser and moderator of outreach talks for MeetScience. Videos (in Italian)
• Darwin Day 2023: organiser and moderator for MeetScience of an interview with Guido Barbujani about human evolution. Video (in Italian)
• 2022-2023: Organiser and moderator of outreach talks for MeetScience. Videos (in Italian)
• Darwin Day 2022: organiser for AIRIcerca Cambridge and moderator of a conversation with Guido Barbujani. Video (in Italian)
• Spritz of Science 2021-2022 series: co-organiser of the networking and outreach events for AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter, held under the name of “Spritz of Science” (November 2020 – June 2021).
• Pint of Science Cambridge 2021: Co-organiser and host of the roundtable “Climate change and conservation after COVID-19: what’s next?”. Video
• International Women’s day 2021: organiser for AIRIcerca Cambridge and moderator of the talk by Anna Lisa Somma and Mirella Orsi “Parole di scienza e conoscenza: Ildegarda di Bingen e Émilie du Châtelet”. Video (in Italian)
• Darwin Day 2021: organiser for AIRIcerca Cambridge and moderator of the talk by Chiara Ceci and Marco Ferraguti “Alla scoperta della prima edizione italiana de L’Origine delle specie”. Video (in Italian)
• Spritz of Science 2020-2021 series: co-organiser of the networking and outreach events for AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter, held under the name of “Spritz of Science” (November 2020 – June 2021).
• Darwin Day 2021: Organiser and chair of a talk on the first Italian edition of “On the Origin of Species” on behalf of AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter (11th February 2021)
• Pint of Science Cambridge 2020: Organiser within “Our Planet” team (cancelled due to COVID-19)
• Darwin Day 2020: Organiser of an outreach event on the topic of Charles and Emma Darwin on behalf of AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter, held at Darwin College (16th February 2020)
• Spritz of Science 2019-2020 series: co-organiser of the AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter monthly outreach events, held under the name of “Spritz of Science” (December 2019 – June 2020).
• Twilight Festival 2019: volunteer for the Botanical Garden for visitor reception and guiding activities (5th February 2019)

Interviews and media coverage

• Pikaia.eu “Intervista alla paleobiologa Dr.ssa Michela Leonardi: uno sguardo al passato per pensare al presente e intervenire sul futuro“
• Leverhulme Newsletter: “”
• Solarpunk Italia: “Intervista con Michela Leonardi a cura di Romina Braggion“. Video
• Corriere del Ticino: “Ambiente: giocare per imparare il rispetto“
• Mashable Italia: “Un gioco da tavolo per studiare il cambiamento climatico: l’idea di una ricercatrice italiana“
• Festival della Cultura Tecnica “La velocità con cui il clima sta cambiando renderà sempre più difficile alle specie animali di adattarsi e reagire“
• University of Ferrara: “Climate change the board game: il gioco da tavolo su evoluzione e clima“
• Cambridge Museum of Zoology Blog: “Climate responses in absence of humans“
• Oggiscienza.it: “Climate change: un gioco da tavolo sul cambiamento climatico“
• Nature research highlights: “Tuscans’ roots in their corner of western Italy date back five millennia“

Other

• I have created a print-and-play educational board game about climate change and evolution, freely available for download;
• I have co-founded AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter, a local chapter of Associazione Internazionale Ricercatori Italiani, and co-organised the social media and outreach activities;
• I have written a chapter of a popular science book and collaborated to an exhibition catalogue;
• I have been translating to Italian and proof-reading (in Italian) for popular science texts (books, exhibition texts, etc.) on the topics of biology, genetics, archaeology, geology and palaeontology as a collaboration with Dr Herwig Prinoth (Naturmuseum Bozen) and popular science writer Paolo Gangemi;

Graphics and painting

I had the pleasure to design a few logos, namely for the Evolutionary Ecology Group (University of Cambridge), for the 25th year anniversary of the Happy Hour of the Department of Zoology (University of Cambridge), for AIRIcerca Cambridge chapter and for its outreach event series “Spritz of Science”.
I also had the honour to contribute with two tiles painted by me to the permanent nature-inspired art exhibition in the Zoology Department (University of Cambridge).
Finally, I curated the graphics of “Climate Change – the board game“, that I created based on my work in the Evolutionary Ecology Group (University of Cambridge).