Assistant Professor in Applied Entomology in which he has been working since 2015, collaborating on different national and international research projects. He works on the sustainable control of plant-insect pests, through biological control and biopesticides, and the ecotoxicology of insect natural enemies. He teaches insect rearing, IPM and molecular biology in the laboratory training courses of Entomology (L-25, 26 and LM-7, 69, 70).
Upon scientific graduation, between 2012 and 2020, he got a B.S., M.S. (with honors), and Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences and the title of Agronomist in the same Dept. Between 2014 and 2019 Michele visited for research for a total of 15 months: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France), University of Minnesota (U.S.A.), Universidad de Talca (Chile), and Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (Spain) through Placement Abroad and Erasmus+ fellowship.
He served as peer-referee 20 Applied Entomology Journals and in 2018, he was awarded Top reviewer in Multidisciplinary, Plant and Animal Science by Clarivate - Web of Science. Dr. Ricupero is a member of the Editorial Board of Annals of Applied Biology, Reviewer Board of MDPI Insects and Agronomy, and Review Editor for Frontiers Physiology. He is also a member of the Italian Entomological Society, Agricultural Entomology Section, since 2021. He participated in oral presentations and posters at several national and international scientific congresses, including the Italian Congress of Entomology and the European Congress of Entomology. Recognized by the Dept. as a Teaching assistant in Entomology (SSD AGR/11) in march 2021. In february 2023, Michele obtained also the National Scientific qualification as Associate Professor in the Italian higher education system for the disciplinary field of 07/D1 - Plant pathology and entomology.
Sustainable control of horticultural crop pests, with regards on tomato, in the Mediterranean through natural enemies and biopesticides.