30/06/2026
For our next “Meet ASAB” feature, we have our secretary, Elisa Frasnelli. This job involves far more than setting up meetings and taking minutes – she is responsible for elections, prize nominations, the AGM, being the contact point for members/officers, and much more behind the scenes. Moreover, she is one of the four trustees legally responsible for ASAB.
In addition to all of her work for us, Elisa is an associate professor at University of Trento. She loves this stage of her career, as she can freely follow any interest… and she has a lot of interests! Elisa actually was originally a physicist, and got into animal behaviour through mathematical modelling. She has worked on such topics as lateralization, social structures, spatial cognition, pain and sentience. And, although she has largely focused on bees, she has also worked with octopus, cuttlefish, pheasants, cats and dogs.
However, perhaps her biggest passion is her students. As academia and the world are changing, she believes more than ever in the importance of mentorship and listening to students. She also facilitates opportunities for students to go on exchange – having lived in so many countries herself, including the Austria, Japan, Australia, the UK and the USA, Elisa thinks such experiences are invaluable for expanding student views, and enabling scientific and cultural exchange. In fact, she is the delegate of internationalisation within her institution.
This outlook makes her a great fit for a multi-national organisation like ASAB, which she first began volunteering with as a council member in 2020. Thanks Elisa for all of your hard work so far, and all the work to come in your term as secretary!
