Sara Modanesi was born in Tarquinia, Italy, in 1985. She received a M.S. degree in Applied Geology in 2012 and a Master degree in Analysis and Management of Hydrological Hazard in 2016, from Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) both with excellence. In 2022 she received her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering jointly beween the University of Florence (Italy) and KU Leuven (Belgium).

From October 2017 to March 2018, she carried out an Internship with the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (IRPI) of the National Research Council (CNR) of Perugia (Italy) within the project “New technologies for Hydrogeological Risk Assessment”. 

From May 2018 to May 2019 she worked with a research scholarship at the CNR-IRPI of Perugia.

From May 2019 to April 2023 she carried out research activities as a research fellow at the CNR-IRPI of Perugia.

From April 2023 to date she is working as a Researcher (III Level) at CNR-IRPI of Perugia.

Her main research interests include: 1) land surface and hydrological modelling; 2) data assimilation of remote sensing observations into land surface models for improving the water cycle description and tracking the effects of the human impacts (i.e., irrigation); 3) drought monitoring through the use of land surface/hydrological models and remote sensing observations; and 4) validation and application of innovative satellite products for the improvement of hydrological modelling.