Who is the Italian botanist studying plant intelligence?

Stefano Mancuso is an Italian botanist and writer best known for his pioneering research into plant intelligence. He serves as a professor at the University of Florence and directs the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology. In addition to his academic leadership, he has contributed to documentary cinema exploring the lives of trees and their relationship with humans.

What we know

• Stefano Mancuso was born on May 9, 1965, and is an Italian botanist and writer. [2]
• He is a professor at the University of Florence within the Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry department. [2]
• Mancuso directs the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology. [2]
• He participated in the 2026 documentary film Holy Wood Dust directed by Viktor Kossakovsky. [4]

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat is plant neurobiology and signaling?
• whereHow does the University of Florence support agricultural research?
• how we knowWhat is the documentary Holy Wood Dust about?
• compared withWho are other notable scientists studying plant communication?
• whenHow did Mancuso's early career shape his research focus?
• an unexpected connectionHow does an Italian surname connect a botanist to a jazz guitarist?Both share the Italian surname Mancuso, which originates from a Sicilian noun meaning left-handed, yet they operate in entirely different creative fields of science and music.

Sources

• [1]Stefano Mancuso (Wikidata Q23795300) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Stefano Mancuso · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Mancuso · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Holy Wood Dust · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Matteo Mancuso · CC BY-SA 4.0