Overview 

I am a Professor of Accounting and former Co-Head of the Accounting and Financial Management Department at the School of Business and Management. Before working at RHUL, I was a research fellow at the University of Florence (Italy), where I obtained a Laurea cum Laude in “Economia e Commercio” (equivalent to First Class Honours degree in BSc in Business and distinction MSc in Accounting) and a PhD in Business Administration. 

My interdisciplinary research uses qualitative methods to explore how accounting and accountability practices assist organisations in becoming more sustainable. I focus on two main areas of accounting for sustainability research. The first concerns problematising existing accounting practices, looking at their effectiveness in facilitating sustainable transformation or preventing the continuation of unsustainable practices. The second area studies how calculative practices impact organizational decision-making and operations, particularly regarding their social and/or environmental impact. My research includes interdisciplinary studies on integrated reporting, stakeholder engagement, sustainability performance management, sustainability governance, water accounting, and accountability.

I have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders for my research, which has been published in world-leading peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, The British Accounting Review, Accounting Forum, Business Strategy and the Environment, and Social Environmental Accountability Journal. My work has also been published in books edited by leading academics. 

I have co-edited 3 Special Issues of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal on 'Integrated Reporting'  (Vol. 27 Issue 7 and Vol. 31 Issue 5) and 'Microfoundations of Accountability' (ongoing). I also edited a special issue on 'Sustainability Governance' in Social Environmental Accountability Journal (Vol. 39, Issue 1).

I was awarded the ‘Highly Commended Paper’ award for 2023 with Accounting Forum for the paper titled “Accounting and the COVID-19 pandemic two years on: Insights, gaps, and an agenda for future research” and obtained numerous honours, awards and grants. I have experience organising interdisciplinary, international conferences and workshops.  

I am an Associate Editor of Accounting Forum and a member of the editorial board of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal and Social Environmental Accountability Journal. I have also acted as an ad hoc reviewer for several leading international peer-reviewed journals, including Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Management Studies, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, European Accounting Review, Business & Society, Accounting and Business Research, Accounting Forum, and Business, Strategy and the Environment.

I also held Visiting Professorial positions overseas at the University of Trento (Italy) and the University of Bergamo (Italy).

Teaching

I have been a Fellow of the prestigious Higher Education Academy (FHEA) since 2012. In 2014, I was awarded the School of Management Teaching Prize for being a top performer in postgraduate teaching. In the same year, I was also awarded the Certificate of Commendation for the College Teaching Prize in recognition of his excellence in Teaching at the College level for the conscious embedding of engagement, belonging and employability for postgraduate students. In 2016 I was nominated among the top 3 finalists for the School of Management Excellence in Teaching Award 2016.

I was appointed as Guest Lecturer in a senior undergraduate management accounting course at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and I hold extensive experience in teaching at the University level in the UK, Italy, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Affiliations 

- Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR)

- British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA)

- Management Control Association (MCA)

- Centre for Research Into Sustainability (CRIS)

- Centre for Critical and Historical Research ON Organization and Society (CHRONOS)

Other leadership roles

I have been elected a Council Member for the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) and the Management Control Association (MCA).

At RHUL School of Management, I was co-director of the Centre for Research Into Sustainability (CRIS).

In my capacity as an accounting expert, I was appointed as a reviewer for the Italian REF, implemented by the Research and University Evaluation Agency (ANVUR) for the evaluation of the Italian research system for the period 2011-2014 (VQR 2011-2014).

I am a selected member of Heathrow’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainability Think Tank (2019)

I have been appointed as part of interview panels to select Chairs in Accounting. I have served as a PhD internal and external examiner at several UK and International Universities. I am also PhD co-supervisor and advisor at Royal Holloway.

PhD Supervision opportunities.

I welcome proposals from well-qualified prospective PhD students wishing to undertake theoretical or qualitative empirical research in the areas of Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Governance and Accounting for Sustainability.