Elena received her Ph.D. from the European University Institute (EUI) in 2026 with a thesis entitled Cities and the Governance of the Cities-Biodiversity Nexus in International and Transnational Law. She holds an LL.B. in Scots Law from the University of Strathclyde and an LL.M. in Public International Law from Leiden University.

Her research focuses on international environmental law, environmental and biodiversity governance, and sustainable finance for nature. More broadly, she examines how legal and governance frameworks can support effective and equitable biodiversity conservation.

In November 2026, she will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law at the National University of Singapore, where her research will explore the governance of biodiversity credits in Southeast Asia through a comparative legal and governance perspective.

Elena is fluent in English, Italian, German and Spanish.