Driven by a lifelong fascination with nature - particularly aquatic species and fish - dr. Graziano pursued both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Marine Biology and Oceanography at Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy). His early academic journey was shaped by hands-on research in fish biology, sustainable aquaculture and conservation, including fieldwork in the Philippines and Indonesia. He later contributed to EU-funded projects in the Netherlands and Spain, refining his expertise in fish reproductive biology and molecular techniques. In Newfoundland (Canada), he explored sexual selection and reproductive isolation in salmonids. During his Ph.D. at the University of East Anglia (UEA), carried out between the UK and the Norwegian fjords, he investigated inbreeding avoidance at the gamete level and farmed-wild salmon interactions. After this he stayed for a postdoc at UEA, where he used genomics and fluorescent microscopy to study trait inheritance in zebrafish and co-authored meta-analyses on climate impacts on fertility. Now at the University of Padova, he examines fish-associated reproductive microbiomes and host-pathogen dynamics. His MSCA project MATES explores how reproductive behaviour and sexual selection shape microbiome transmission in guppies (Poecilia reticulata), using genomics, fluorescent microscopy and behavioural tracking. The goal is to reveal the influence of the reproductive microbiome on mate choice, host fitness and host-microbe feedback loops, providing the first comprehensive assessment of the mechanisms involved in both the establishment and variation of microbiomes and characterizing their relevance in ecological and sexual selective processes.