Francesco Niccoli is a forest ecologist and ecophysiologist specializing in the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems. He received his degree in Environmental and Territorial Sciences and Technologies with highest honors from the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” in 2018. In 2022, he earned his PhD in Environment, Design and Innovation from the same institution. His doctoral thesis, entitled “Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in Mediterranean forests: a multidisciplinary approach”, was awarded in 2025 as the best PhD thesis in forestry by the National Union for Scientific Innovation in Forestry (U.N.I.F.), in collaboration with the Italian Academy of Forest Sciences.

Following several postdoctoral research appointments at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, he has been a permanent researcher since 2026 at the ENEA Casaccia Research Centre (Rome), within the Division on Anthropogenic Impacts and Climate Change on Territory.
His research focuses on forest ecology and ecophysiology, with particular emphasis on the effects of climate change and environmental stressors such as drought and wildfire. He adopts an integrated, multi-scale approach combining dendrochronology, stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis in tree rings, high-frequency ecophysiological monitoring, and remote sensing techniques to investigate tree growth dynamics, water use, and forest resilience.

He has been involved in several national and international research projects and has contributed to the development of innovative IoT-based monitoring systems for forest ecosystems. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications in international journals and serves as reviewer and editor for journals in the fields of forest ecology and environmental sciences. In 2025, he obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor in the scientific sector 07/B2 – Arboriculture and Forest Systems.