Mia Canestrini, conservationist and science communicator

About

I studied natural sciences in Bologna, and my thesis was already about the wolf: I searched the field for signs of its presence in order to study its genetics. Then came the monitoring and coexistence projects, mainly in the Casentino Forests and Tuscan-Emilian Apennine national parks, the EU LIFE projects M.I.R.Co.-lupo and Ex-Tra and, in 2020–2021, Italy’s first national wolf monitoring programme, in which I coordinated fieldwork in Campania, Apulia and Molise.

In 2008, while I was specialising in the conservation of animal biodiversity, a course in human dimensions taught by Professor Alistair Bath convinced me that the wolf cannot be protected without considering the people who live where it lives and their economic, social and cultural needs. It is the subject I later taught, together with science communication, on master’s programmes at the universities of Venice and Padua, and the starting point of my advocacy for the wolf today.

Live

Francesco e i lupi

Francis and the Wolves

A dialogue between poetry and science about Francis of Assisi and wolves, on stage since 2023.
Processo al lupo

The Wolf on Trial

A show-lecture for a general audience, built as a trial, in which I provide the expert technical evidence.
Talks and events

For festivals, schools and events I offer talks on four themes: the biology of wolves and dogs and their relationship with us, urban biodiversity, living alongside wildlife, and the impact of climate change on wildlife.

For dates and availability, write to Elastica:
contact-canestrini@elastica.eu

Books

All published in Italian.

La lezione della neve

Una storia di boschi, orsi e bambini

Mondadori Electa, 2024. Illustrated by Ilaria Demonti

An illustrated fable about coexistence between people and bears. In the mountains of Japan, Yuro, a bear cub with a white crescent on its chest, and Emil, a boy from a village on the edge of the forest, both orphans, learn together to overcome fear and misunderstanding.

Mondadori Store page
Nelle terre dei lupi

Storie italiane di un ritorno

Piemme, 2023

The new geography of the wolf in Italy, told on a journey from Irpinia to Tuscany, from the Emilian Apennines to Valtellina and the coast near Rome, and a reflection on what the wolf is in a heavily human-modified world.

Mondadori Store page
Custode di cuori

L’amicizia tra un ragazzo e un lupo nero

Mondadori Electa, 2022

A story for young readers. Ten-year-old Rusco runs away from home and crosses an empty city at night, where he meets the animals of the night, a black wolf and an ecosystem hidden among the concrete.
La ragazza dei lupi

La mia vita selvaggia tra i lupi italiani

Piemme, 2019

My first book, an autobiographical essay: my years in the field and the wolves I followed, interwoven with the story of the wolf in Italy.

Mondadori Store page

TV and radio

Tesori d’Italia: nel cuore dei Sibillini: Focus, November 2026. Host.
Il Provinciale: Rai 1 and Rai 2, and in prime time on Rai 3. Co-host with Federico Quaranta.
La banda dei Fuoriclasse: Rai Gulp. Co-host with Mario Acampa.
L’Italia non finisce mai: Rai 1, 2020. Co-host with Michele Dalai, Mariasole Bianco and Federica De Denaro.
Geo: Rai 3. The segment “Buone notizie dalla natura” (good news from nature).
Nemo – Nessuno escluso: Rai 2, 2017. A monologue on the wolf.
Guest: Among others: Unomattina (Rai 1), Sottovoce (Rai 1), Petrolio (Rai 2), FarWest (Rai 3), Morning News (Canale 5), Dalla parte degli animali (Rete 4), L’ora solare (TV2000).
La bella e le bestie: Radio 105, 2019–2025. A live segment on 105 Friends.

Press

Short biography

Mia Canestrini (Bologna, 1982) is a conservationist and science communicator. For twenty years she worked on monitoring and coexistence projects centred on the wolf, which she continues to champion through advocacy. On radio and television, in books and on stage she covers biodiversity, conflicts between wildlife and people, climate change and multispecies ethnography. In November 2026 she hosts Tesori d’Italia: nel cuore dei Sibillini on Focus.

Long biography

Born in Bologna in 1982, Mia Canestrini studied natural sciences in the same city, with a thesis on wolf genetics, and specialised in the conservation of animal biodiversity. For twenty years she worked on monitoring and coexistence projects centred on the wolf, mainly in the Casentino Forests and Tuscan-Emilian Apennine national parks, and on the EU LIFE projects M.I.R.Co.-lupo and Ex-Tra. In Italy’s first national wolf monitoring programme, in 2020–2021, she coordinated fieldwork in Campania, Apulia and Molise.

She continues to work for the wolf through advocacy; as a science communicator she covers biodiversity, conflicts between wildlife and people, climate change and multispecies ethnography. On television she has co-hosted L’Italia non finisce mai (Rai 1), Il Provinciale (Rai 1, Rai 2 and Rai 3) and La banda dei Fuoriclasse (Rai Gulp), and she presented the segment “Buone notizie dalla natura” on Geo (Rai 3). From 2019 to 2025 she ran the segment La bella e le bestie on 105 Friends, Radio 105. In November 2026 she hosts Tesori d’Italia: nel cuore dei Sibillini on Focus.

With Piemme she has published La ragazza dei lupi (2019) and Nelle terre dei lupi (2023), and with Mondadori Electa two books for young readers, Custode di cuori (2022) and La lezione della neve (2024). On stage she performs Francesco e i lupi, a dialogue between poetry and science about Francis of Assisi and wolves, and the show-lecture Processo al lupo.

She has written for National Geographic, Donna Moderna, Marie Claire and Touring Club and has taught science communication and the human dimensions of conservation on master’s programmes at the universities of Venice and Padua. In 2023 she was a European Climate Pact Ambassador. She is a member of Tana Collective, an international collective of wildlife filmmakers, and writes the Sunday newsletter Rewild Yourself.