Maria-Anna Bertolino holds a PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Turin. Her research focuses on the effects of the marginalisation of Alpine regions, the renewed political interest in these areas, as well as processes of heritage designation and policies relating to agriculture. For over a decade, she has been conducting research into Alpine intangible cultural heritage, particularly food heritage, by cataloguing local practices, knowledge, skills and expertise. She has carried out ethnographic research in various Alpine regions of Italy, France and Switzerland, as well as amongst linguistic minorities. She has also participated in several cross-border cooperation projects.
She is currently a research fellow at HES-SO Valais-Wallis, within the School of Social Work, as well as at the Regional Centre for the Study of Alpine Populations (CREPA) in Sembrancher.
Recently, she served on the organising committee for the first edition of the Fête de Lo Pan Ner in Valais, as a representative of CREPA. She also helped establish the Association des fours banaux et à pain valaisans, founded on 12 June 2026.
On behalf of CREPA (an association accredited by UNESCO since June 2026 in the field of intangible cultural heritage), she coordinated the preparation of the multinational nomination (Switzerland, Italy, France and Slovenia) for the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices under the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, a nomination for which Switzerland was the lead country.
