Barbara Allen (Ph.D. Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, 1999) is Director of the Graduate Program in Science and Technology in Society at Virginia Tech’s Washington, DC area campus. She teaches courses on the sociology and cultural studies of science and technology as well as classes on risk, environmental issues, and citizen participation in science. A native of New Orleans, she has written many articles on the environmental justice social movement in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” and about post-Hurricane Katrina issues. Currently she is completing a comparative study of environmental health and policy issues in the Marghera chemical region and is also interested in informal science networks and science-citizens alliances in Italy. She has published articles in journals such as Social Studies of Science, Technology in Society, Technology and Culture, Science as Culture, and also a book, Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor Disputes (MIT Press: 2003).

Martin W. Bauer studied psychology and history at the University of Bern (Switzerland) and hold a PhD from the University of London. After a post-doctorate at the Science Museum in London, he joined the LSE's Institute of Social Psychology. His research is on social representations, scientific literacy and public attitudes to science and technology. Book publications include 'Resistance to new Technology' (Cambridge University Press, 1995); 'Biotechnology - the making of a global controversy' (Cambridge University Press, 2002; with G Gaskell).

Massimiano Bucchi , (Ph.D. Social and Political Science, European University Institute, Florence 1997) teaches Science and   Technology in Society at the University of Trento, Italy; he has carried out research and given seminars at several research institutions, such as Sussex University, ETH Zurich, University of Wisconsin, University of California Berkeley, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, University of Edinburgh, University of Tokyo, Museu da Vida Rio de Janeiro. He received several awards and recognitions including the RAI television prize for research in mass communications (1996), the Mullins award for the best Sociology of Science graduate paper (1997), the Lelli prize for the best Sociology dissertation discussed in Italy (1998). and the Merck  Serono Jury Special Prize for Science Books (2007). He is member of the International Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Scientific Committee. He has published articles in international journals such as Public Understanding of Science, Nature, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences and The British Journal of History of Science and several books, including Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (ed. with B. Trench, Routledge, 2008), Journalism, Science and Society (ed. with M.W. Bauer, Routledge, 2007) , Beyond Technocracy. Science, Politics, Citizens (New York, Springer,2009),  Science and the Media  (Routledge, 1998) and Science in Society. An Introduction to Social Studies of Science (Routledge, 2004).

Silvia Casini holds a Ph.D. in Film and Visual Studies at Queen’s University of Belfast (UK) and an MA in Philosophy at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice. Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), her doctoral dissertation has investigated the use of brain imaging techniques in contemporary art practices. Besides a number of articles written on this topic and papers presented at international conferences, she has curated the art exhibition ‘Sur-faces: Marc Didou and Gabriele Leidloff’. Among her interests there are art and science cross-fertilizations, contemporary ‘neurocultures’ and curatorial practices related to new media. She has worked at the Venice International Film Festival as coordinator of the Horizons section. Currently collaborating with the department of philosophy, she is also working for Observa on two international projects dealing with evaluation methods for Science in Society activities and public engagement with nanotechnologies.

Anna Donazzan is a graduate in Environmental Sciences with a thesis about the nature spread and about ecotourism. She conducted a part of her studies at the University of Cadiz – Ciencias del Mar, and at the Karl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg, Germany. Then she studied the field of scientific and institutional communication and she obtained a Masters in Journalism and Science Communication. Since 2006 she has being cooperating with Observa – Science in Society in research and in draft of the Science in Society Facts and Figures (Annuario Scienza e Società).

Daniela Doremi is a graduate in “Mathematics for Economics and Management Applied” , at the University of Camerino. During the graduation thesis in Elements of Statistics she has been concerned with multivariate analysis applied to the Customer Satisfaction of Tourism in Marche. For this work she performed activities of synthesis, analysis and data processing at the EURISPES – Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies. She continued her university course to become a Master in "Diffusion of Scientific Culture" at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, including developing skills in communication and relational areas. Between 2008 and 2009 she worked as a staffer in the office of communication and printing of VEGA – Venice Gateway for Science and Technology. From April 2009 works with Observa – Science in Society, she carries out communication in the management of the website, the Science in Society Monitor and she participates in the production of the Science in Society Facts and Figures.

Andrea Lorenzet is sociologist of science and technology and a science communication expert. He is member of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). His main research interest are in the area of urban infrastructural policy issues. For his PhD dissertation, he studied the controversy about the flooding of Venice and th system of dams called "Mose". He was involved in the evaluation of the following science communication projects at the European level: Physics on Stage 3 (2003-2004), BIOPOP (2005-2006) and PlayDecide (2006-2007). He took part and presented his research in the following international conferences: Public Proofs. Science, technology and democracy (4S e EASST conference, Paris, 2004) and Science & Technology in Society (held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science headquarters, Washington, DC, 2007). He is now junior researcher at the CIGA of the University of Padova, a centre working on the relationship between nanotechnology and society. He published the article “Science, risk and social representations” (with Federico Neresini), in IPTS Report 82, 2004.

Paolo Magaudda (ph.D. in Sociology, University of Padova, 2007) carries out research on science and technology with the Unit Research Pa.S.T.I.S (Padova Science, Technology & Innovation Studies) at the Department of Sociology at Padova University and he also collaborates with the University of Bologna and with the Istituto Carlo Cattaneo (Bologna). He has a significant experience in qualitative methodologies and his main research interests are in the fields of science and technology, media analysis, food studies and cultural studies. Since 2004 he is coordinator of the editorial staff of the journal "Studi Culturali" (Il Mulino); in 2006 he has been Visiting Researcher at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and is member of AIS (Associazione Italiana di Sociologia); 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) and STS Italia (Scienza, Tecnologia e Società). He is the author of articles and essays in several journals including "Journal of Consumer Culture", "Appetite", "Modern Italy", "Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia" and "Studi Culturali" and he is currently completing a monograph on musical technology.

Massimo Mazzotti (PhD Science Studies 2000, University of Edinburgh) teaches history of science at the University of California, Berkeley. He has held postdoctoral positions at MIT and at the University of Toronto, and has taught sociology of science at the University of Exeter, where he is also research associate at Egenis, the ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society. In Italy, he has a long-lasting collaboration with the CIS, at the University of Bologna. His main research interests are the politics of science and technology in the age of Enlightenment, the interaction of religion and science, the history of logic and mathematics, and the social dimension of industrial design. He is the author of The World of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Mathematician of God (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), Knowledge as Social Order. Rethinking the Sociology of Barry Barnes (ed.; Ashgate, 2008), and of several articles in international journals including Isis, The British Journal for the History of Science, Technology and Culture, Actes de la Recherche en Science Sociales. Outside academia, he has acted as a consultant for exhibitions on the history of science at the New York Public Library and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, and for BBC television documentaries.

Federico Neresini (Ph.D. Sociology and Social Research, Trento 1992) teaches “Social Research Methodology” and “Science, Technology and Society” at the University of Padua, Italy. He is a member of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) and of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4s). He was awarded the Lelli Prize for the best Sociology Italian Ph.D. dissertation (1992).
His main research interests are in the area of the sociology of science, in particular public communication of science, social representations of science and citizen’s participation in decision making processes about tecno-scientific issues. During the last period he has focused on biotechnology issues, with specific attention to in vitro fertilisation and cloning. From two years his research activities are also addressed to nanotechnology.
He published several articles in international journals - such as Public Understanding of Science, Nature, Science, Nanotechnology Perceptions, New Genetics and Society – and some books (recently Cellule e cittadini. Biotecnologie nella sfera pubblica - Cells and citizens, Biotechnologies in the public sphere - ed. with M. Bucchi Sironi, Milano, 2006).

Giuseppe Pellegrini, (Ph.D. Sociology, Padova 2004) teaches methodology of social research at the University of Padova, Italy. He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Lancaster, UK. His current research focuses on social policy, citizenship rights and public participation with specific regard to biotechnology issues. He is the coordinator of the research area “Science and Citizens” at Observa - Science in Society. He is a member of the EASST (European Association for the Study of Science and Technology) and of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4s). His last book "Techno-scientific Innovation: responsibilities and new ways of democracy", Rubbettino, 2008).

Barbara Saracino graduated in Sociology at the University of Naples “Federico II” and holds a Ph.D. in Social Research Methodology from the University of Florence. She collaborates with the Department of Sociology in Naples and the Department of Sociology and Political Science in Florence, with the “Centro Studi Minori e Media” and, since October 2009, with Observa – Science in Society. Her main research interests deal with social methodology, history and sociology of science. She is currently completing a research begun during her Ph.D. dissertation on the construction and use of the Bell Curve.

Chiara Segafredo is graduated in Society, Politics and European Studies at the Faculty of Sociology of Trento with a dissertation titled “The revelation of the British gulag in Kenya” about the historical and political debate concerning British government at the age of the decolonization. She also studied at the Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) within the Department of Sociology and Political Science. She is currently studying Institutions and Politics of Human Rights and Peace at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Padua. She’s working with Observa on PAR.CO Project (Participation and Communication for environmental protection) and on Accent Project.

Mariachiara Tallacchini teaches Philosophy of Law at the Law Faculty of the Catholic University of Piacenza and Bioethics, Biotechnology and Law at the Faculty of Biotechnology of the State University of Milan. She collaborates with the Faculty of Medicine and the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Milan on legal problems related to tissue engineering and the use of laboratory and transgenic animals. She also collaborates with WHO on the topic of environmental health. In 2000/2001 she has been a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government (Harvard University), in the programme "Reframing Rights: Constitutional Implications of Technological Change" (Prof. Sheila Jasanoff), and she is working on informed consent and public participation to xenotransplantation.
Her main interests focus now on the relationships between science and law. She is author and/or editor (or co-editor) of several books on the environment, on biotechnology, and the law: Diritto per la natura, Giappichelli, Torino 1996 (Law for Nature); Biotecnologie e consenso informato, Politeia, Milano 1999 (Biotechnology and Informed Consent); Politica della scienza e diritto: il rapporto tra istituzioni, esperti e pubblico nelle biotecnologie, Politeia, Milano 2001 (Policy of Science Law); “Ethics and Genetics. A Workbook for Practitioners and Students”, Berghahn Books, Oxford-New York 2003 (with G. de Wert, R. ter Meulen, R. Mordacci) Le biotecnologie. Aspetti etici, sociali e ambientali, Bruno Mondadori, Milano 2004 (Biotechnology: ethical, social and environmental aspects; with . F. Terragni).

Giuseppe Testa (Ph.D in molecular and cellular biology at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg 2002) is group leader at the Laboratory of Stem Cell Epigenetic of the European School of Molecular Medicine (European Institute of Oncology, Milan). Previously, he worked as postdoctoral fellow at the Technische Universität Dresden, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. He won the Italian prize "Luigi Casati" from the "Accademia dei Lincei" for the best graduation thesis in Medicine defended during the year 1996 and the “European Doctorate in Biotechnology” awarded by the European Association for Higher Education in Biotechnology (HEduBT) for excellence of research in the Field of biotechnology. In 2003 he received the Roche Prize for the most outstanding lecture at the Roche "Symposium for Leading Bioscientists of the Next Decade and the Society in Science Branco-Weiss-Fellowship. awarded by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich Society-in-Science initiative. He is founder the Dresden Forum on Science and Society of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, which aims at promoting public awareness and discussion on the social relevance of life sciences. Information on his publications and current researches are available at his homepage http://www.ifom-ieo-campus.it/research/testacv.php

Brian Trench is a senior lecturer in journalism and science communication and former Head of School in the School of Communications, Dublin City University. Before joining the university in 1992, he was for twenty years a full-time journalist, specialising in science and technology from the mid-1980s. He has supervised or participated in research and training projects on professional issues in Internet journalism, European media coverage of science, establishing a journalism archive, communication training for scientists, Irish science web sites, formation of Irish science policy, theoretical perspectives on the information society, and many more topics. Recent publications include book chapters on 1. impacts of the Internet on science reporting, 2. impacts of the Internet on professional and public science communication, 3. an analytical framework of science communication models, 4. Irish media representations of science, 5. Irish media coverage of the ‘knowledge economy’.
Brian was co-editor with Massimiano Bucchi of Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (Routledge, 2008). He is a member of the scientific committee of the international PCST (Public Communication of Science and Technology) network.


Alessandra Zambonin graduated in Science of Communication at Università degli Studi di Padova (Padua, Italy). Her degree dissertation was about the role of the museum in cultural promotion. She also studied in Germany, at Ruprecht Karls Universitaet of Heidelberg and at Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet of Munich. She attended a Master in Culture Management organised by Fondazione Fitzcarraldo (Turin, Italy) and ICCM International Centre for Culture and Management (Salzbug, Austria).
As consultant she contributed to realize art exhibitions in “La Triennale di Milano” Foundation and in “Galleria Carla Sozzani”, both of them situated in Milan and she cooperated with the Rome Municipality – Department of Cultural Policies (Assessorato alle Politiche Culturali), carrying out a study on supply and demand on culture in Rome. Currently she teaches at the Master Course on Arts and Cultural Heritage Management – Cultural Planning, organized by the “Istituto Europeo di Design” in Venice and collaborate with Observa in research fields related to scientific museums.