ANDREA SCALA is visiting from the University of Basilicata where he is pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Patrizia Falabella. Andrea received his Master Degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Naples “Federico II”, with a thesis in Molecular Biology entitled “Using of electrophoretic micro-technologies for the study of microbial and food proteome”. Then he received a fellowship at the Institute of Protein Biochemistry of Naples where he studied fluorescence analysis using proteins and antibodies as specific probes to design optical biosensors with the aim to determinate micotoxins and antibiotics levels in foods. For his PhD, he is studying the olfactory perception at molecular level in the black soldier fly in order to identify and functionally characterize all the components, especially the Odorant Binding Proteins that mediate the chemoreception of attractive odorous molecules. The aim is to optimize the bioconversion capacity of the black soldier fly on different type of decomposing organic substrates. During his time in the FLIES Facility at Texas A&M University he will examine volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by different substrates colonized with black soldier fly larvae in order to identify the most attractive ones and increase the fitness of the insect.