Michael German

Identity card

Strong character, loves to do things right and has recently started playing the piano. She's the pet peeve of his cats and loves going for long walks. Her time has revealed to her that getting stuck isn't always good... actually, it's often better to let go. She has traveled a lot (the first time alone at 15) and as a child she dreamed of becoming a dancer. Let's go find out volcanic Micol Todesco. 

What or who brought you closer to the world of science? 

I grew up in it, my father was a chemist

What did you learn from him?

That there's always an explanation, even if it often seems like there isn't. 

As a child, what did you dream of becoming when you grew up?

I dreamed of becoming a ballerina 

What subjects were you passionate about at school? 

Almost all of them, studying has always enjoyed me 

What teenager were you?

Calm, swashbuckling traveller.

Traveler with the mind or physically?

Both, always. I traveled a lot with my family, and I soon started moving alone (the first trip abroad without parents at 15). And then I've always loved to fantasize. If I was bored, I imagined entire universes, which I then filled with adventures, often with my brother or friends.

Was there a reference "myth" that inspired you? 

No famous people, but luckily several reference figures (some teachers, family members and family friends) have opened up horizons for me that I never imagined.

Where did you graduate and what memories do you have of your university career? 

I graduated in Bologna in Geological Sciences. I had more fun than I thought possible and met lifelong friends there.

The most exciting moment of your career? 

Leaving for California, a few months after graduating. I still vividly feel the detachment of the plane from the Milan Malpensa runway. I distinctly thought: here we are. Here begins the adventure of adult life. The study period ended with a presentation at the AGU in San Francisco, how could you ask for more?

But the most emotional moment in your private life? 

Many, beautiful, intense and precisely, private.

What do you think you would have become if you hadn't been a researcher?

Who knows… I would have looked for something that would allow me to travel. I like writing, maybe I could have been a correspondent. But I would also have been happy to manage a farmhouse in the hills, cultivating a vegetable garden and with lots of cats around…

What relationship do you have with nature?

I certainly enjoy being outdoors and I love animals. I also think that the environment we are part of evolves following dynamics that often transcend the human scale and can easily overwhelm us. As a species, we struggle to understand our own irrelevance, and this puts us at great risk.

How long have you been at INGV?

I would say since 2005

What's the first thing you do when you get home? 

For some time now, I have been playing the piano

When was this passion born?

I think it has always been there, hidden somewhere, and only now has it found the right way and context to fully manifest itself. Thanks to the spouse who gave me the first ten lessons in 2019.

How did you experience this lockdown period?

Feeling privileged. I had the opportunity to focus on a job that I like, I was able to play a lot and we even have a garden that allowed us to breathe even in the worst moments. Can't really complain

What is, in your opinion, the scientific discovery that would change the history of science? 

The one we don't expect, I guess. I really have no idea!

A city you've visited that has remained in your heart and one you've always dreamed of moving to? 

Many, and I could live in all of them: starting with Paris, but also London, Copenhagen, San Francisco, Barcelona… 

What have been your best trips? 

I can not make a ranking, I liked them all

What would you have liked to discover, among the discoveries of the past? 

I'm fascinated by discoveries that change our way of perceiving reality. I am thinking of the discovery of geological time, or of the complexity of the ocean floor and its relation to plate tectonics.

What is your main concern?

We are not doing enough to tackle climate change and our children and grandchildren will pay the price

As a researcher, is everything always explicable?

As a researcher I know that very rarely anything is convincingly explainable, let alone everything!

Your promise kept and the one you failed to keep…

Become a researcher. I would have liked to work more in the field, and this one was less successful

Your love at first sight?

Children

You like sport? 

I like movement in the open air, in the mountains or by the sea but I'm too lazy for competitions

Have you ever practiced any? 

In the summer I go trekking and I still manage a few via ferratas. I like swimming, walking and cycling 

Listen to the music? 

I'd love that

What's your favorite genre? 

I am quite omnivorous: from classical music to rock, from jazz to pop…

Favourite book? 

Hard to choose. Let's say The symmetry of desires, given that the author Eskol Nevo has recently passed from Bologna

If you had to remember one of your "first days" which one would you remember? 

Maybe the first day at university. All a little disoriented and thrilled, we felt very big and at the same time very small. But every new beginning is an adventure

What would you recommend to a boy who is starting university… perhaps in the scientific field?

I would tell him to be patient, knowledge takes time, like any job well done. 

What do you do when you are not at work? 

I play music, work in the garden, harass cats, chat with distant children, walk (a lot) with my spouse, organize evenings with friends (less so, after the covid!). When you succeed, I travel

Do you have a place of the heart?

Different, it depends on the moment. 

Your best luck? 

I am tenacious

It can never be missing in your suitcase? 

The cell phone to send stupid messages and take pictures

Are you more sweet or savory in the kitchen? 

Savoury

Favorite dish? 

All types of pasta

Do you like cooking? 

Molto

One thing you understood “when you grew up”? 

That you don't need to get stuck. Sometimes you can let go, that's okay

What do you keep from your childhood? 

The curiosity

Last question: what is the song that you would never stop listening to? 

It is not a song, but the magic flute in the version of the Piazza Vittorio orchestra gives a form of addiction from which it is difficult to get out