He attended the Middle Schools of Udine and Cividale and the University of Florence (1916–1920),[1] graduating with a degree in Natural Sciences (Geology).

[citation needed] In 1926, Desio organized and led a geographical and geological expedition to the Oasis of Jaghbub, in the Libyan Desert.

[citation needed] In 1935 and 1936 he further explored the Fezzan, from both the geological and hydrological point of view, and the Tibesti massif in the Central Sahara.

From 1936 to 1940, he organized and directed the Libyan Geological Survey, which included research into mining and artesian waters by order of the Government of Libya.

In the same years, he also discovered an exploitable deposit of Carnallite in the Oasis of Marada, and rich artesian aquifers in some zones of Northern Libya, which gave a strong impulse to the development of the agriculture.

[2] During the winters of 1937 and 1938, Desio explored Wallega and the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Eastern Ethiopia, both from the point of view of the geology and mining, discovering some new deposits of gold and molybdenite.

[2] In 1967 and 1968 he carried out geohydrological investigations in the Mu River basin (Central Burma) for a UN irrigation project, while in 1970 he developed a geological study in Mindanao (Philippines).

[2] In northern Pakistan Desio carried out three other geological expeditions during the summers of 1971 (Middle Indus Valley), 1973 (Gilgit-Skardu) and 1975 (Punjab and Gilgit).

By invitation of Academia Sinica, in June 1980, after a scientific symposium in Beijing, Desio crossed Southern Tibet with a team of Chinese scientists.

In 1989 he planned, organized and realized a permanent high-altitude scientific laboratory-observatory in a prefabricated glass and aluminum pyramid-shaped structure, which was installed at an altitude of 5,050 m at the base of Mount Everest.