Luigi Borrelli is researcher at the Italian National Research Council (CNR), Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (IRPI) of Cosenza (Italy).

He earned a degree in geological sciences and the professional qualification as geologist in 2000, completed a PhD in earth sciences (GEO/05) in 2008, and obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) as Associate Professor (sector 04/A3) in 2018. He is the author of more than 170 scientific contributions, including 52 publications indexed in Scopus, with an h‑index of 24, and has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences.

His research focuses on applied geology and geomorphology with a particular emphasis on landslides and deep‑seated gravitational slope deformations (DGPV). Areas of expertise include aerial photo interpretation and geological, engineering‑geological and geomorphological surveying for thematic mapping aimed at land‑use planning and geo‑hydrological risk mitigation; analysis of the relationships among structural setting, weathering processes and slope instability; reconstruction of geological‑technical models of landslides and DGPVs by integrating surface and subsurface data; use of satellite radar data for the mapping and characterization of slow‑moving landslides; UAV‑based, high‑resolution surveying and monitoring; kinematic typifying of high‑impact landslides; Investigation of physical and mineralogical‑petrographic transformations in crystalline rocks resulting from weathering; and geospatial data processing and analysis in GIS environments.

Since 2021 he has coordinated the operational agreement with the River Basin District Authority of the Southern Apennines for the update, revision and drafting of the Inventory Map of Existing and Potential Landslides at 1:25,000 scale (PAI‑Rf) for Calabria; since 29 April 2024 he has also served as Scientific Coordinator of the Framework Agreement (art. 15, Law 241/1990), integrating scientific knowledge into basin‑scale planning processes. Since January 2023, he has played a central role in the PNRR “Tech4You” project, coordinating Actions 2 and 3 of Goal 1 within Spoke 1 to develop multiscale digital tools, interoperable platforms and innovative protocols for landslide‑risk assessment and management. Since 2023 he has additionally been responsible for field surveying and landslide mapping in the PRIN 2022 “SOIL SHADES” project, which investigates pedogenetic processes as predisposing factors for shallow landslides. Among past activities of note, he led the Work Package of the national MEFISTO project (2021–2023), focused on integrating multi‑frequency DInSAR data for the analysis and typifying of slow‑moving landslides.

He has contributed to numerous operational tasks in Calabria, carrying out field surveys, mapping and residual‑risk assessments during geo‑hydrological emergencies. He serves on the editorial boards of Frontiers in Earth Science, Geosciences, Applied Sciences and GeoHazards; he reviews for several international journals; and, since 2017, he has been a member of the Academic Board of the SIACE Doctoral Programme (University of Calabria), where he also supervises and co‑supervises Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD theses. Since March 2024 he has been an elected member of the IRPI Institute Council, representing research and technology staff. In 2024 he received the Springer Award for Outstanding Paper at EMCEI 2024 (Marrakech) for a contribution on the calibration of shallow‑landslide susceptibility models.