A little introduction.
Hello there, visitor! ☺​
​My name's Irene Sant'Ambrogio.
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​I'm an Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) of Neuroscience, Psychology and Animal Behaviour. 
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The hometown where I come from is Reggio Calabria, situated on the Southern far end of the Italian peninsula and surrounded by the Mediterranean sea. My love for nature has been shaped by the environment within where I grew up, which offers many possibilities to explore different kinds of wild landscapes filled with a rich and various fauna. 
Love for Research,
Research for Love.
▸ The interactions between animals, humans and environment have always attracted me; when I was a child, I came across Charles Darwin's expedition diaries and Konrad Lorenz's zoological studies. The way they pictured the harmony between environment and organisms, explaining how the first shapes the second in countless ways and vice versa, made me decide to follow their steps. I've chosen Psychology as a starting point because I believe it's one of the most exciting and eclectic fields of study that lays the foundations of many disciplines, including Ethology, the research area I've decided to be specialised in. Through the observation of Animal Behaviour, we take small inching steps that lead to a clearer picture of our evolutionary processes and the dynamics that originate our consciousness.
▸ There's a millennial history related to altered states of consciousness which offers more than a glimpse of their importance for the ​evolution of humankind: the similarities of psychedelic experiences’ reports collected all over the world and through different ages is actually breath-taking. Current scientific efforts are now focused on re-introducing the use of psychedelic substances for prevention and treatment of mental disorders which are drug-resistant.
Looking behind
​the Doors of Perception.
Illustrations by:
​Jillian Tamaki (banner) − Millie Woodcock (middle paragraph) − Massive Science Inc. (bottom paragraph)