List of Invited Speakers
As of today.
(Last Name Alphabetic Order.)
Inter-connections, Feedbacks, Scale, Time and the Dimensions of Soil Security
Dominique Arrouays
Senior Researcher
Info & Sols
INRAE
France
Short Biography
Dominique Arrouays. Ir. Dr. PhD. has been a Soil Scientist at INRAE (France) since 1983.
He was head of soil survey and monitoring for France (2000-2011). President of the French Soil Science Society (2013-2015). Member of the ITPS of the UN-FAO (2013-2015). Member of the IPCC who won the Nobel Peace Price 2007. Gold medal and member of the French Academy of Agriculture 2014.
Three best papers in pedometrics. H-index: WoS: 52, ResearchGate: 65, GoogleScholar: 69. Five edited books. More than 400 communications in conferences. Co-organizer of the 2nd Global Soil Security Conference Paris 2016. Editorial boards: Geoderma, Geoderma Regional, Remote Sensing, Frontiers Env. Sci. Frontiers Soil Sci. Soil Security.
Etude et Gestion des Sols, Agro-pedology. Chair of the IUSS WG GlobalSoilMap.
Field of Interest or Research
Soil, soil mapping, digital soil mapping, soil monitoring, soil organic carbon, soil security, soil fertility, soil contamination, spatial analysis, global soil mapping, soil capability, soil condition, soil connectivity, climate change, climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Soil Security: Unlocking the Full Potential of Soil-land-water Nexus Research
Pasquale Borrelli
Professor
Department of Science
Roma Tre University
Italy
Short Biography
Pasquale Borrelli is a Professor in the Department of Science at the University of Roma Tre where he has been a faculty member since July 2022. He is the Head of Roma Tre’s Environmental Modeling and Global Change Lab.
He was granted by Clarivate the recognition of Highly Cited Researcher 2022 by in the field of Environment and Ecology, Distinguished Research Award 2019 of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC), and included in Stanford-Elsevier list of 2% most impactful scientists 2022.
His scientific career path reflects his great interest and familiarity to work in international and multidisciplinary environments. His continental and global scale models are used in official reports of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), United Nations (IPCC, UNEP, FAO, IPBES), European Commission, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Field of Interest or Research
Pasquale Borrelli mainly engaged in research on soil erosion mechanics, modeling and monitoring. During the last sixteen years he gained a holistic expertise on human-environment interactions seeking to unravel the past, present and future role of land use and climate change at multiple spatial scales.
His scientific path is driven by the idea to enhance our regional and global understanding for one of the most significant threats to soil and water and thus food security and environmental ecosystem service functions, named soil erosion.
Human Nutritional Aspects of Soil Security: Hidden Hunger
Ismail Cakmak
Professor
Sabanci University
Türkiye
Short Biography
Ismail Cakmak received his Ph.D. at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. He is Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Published 230-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics and ranked in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.
He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016. He is an elected member of “The Academy of Europe” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.
Field of Interest or Research
Human nutritional aspects of plant mineral nutrition and plant stress mitigation by mineral nutrients
Peak Soil Jeopardises Global Food Security, Climate Emergency and Peace
Abad Chabbi
Research Director (DR1)
Agroecosystems
National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE)
France
Short Biography
Abad Chabbi, is research director at INRAE and a guest professor at the Nanjing University, China & the University de la Frontera (Chile).
He worked at the LSU, USA; the BTU Cottbus, Germany; the UPMC Paris, France; & the INRAE where he has been leading the National Observatory for Environmental Research since 2009. Throughout his career, Abad Chabbi has focused on coordinating many large international and multidisciplinary projects under the strategic European Commission framework.
He chairs the Joint FAO/IAEA Working Group on Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and provides expertise worldwide to numerous research councils.
Abad Chabbi supervised 23 PhD students and postdocs and has published more than 150 papers in international peer reviewed journals, book chapters, books, and special issues.
Field of Interest or Research
His current research centers on understanding the link between soil carbon sequestration, nutrient availability and stoichiometry in the Plant-Soil System, plant diversity and the influence of land use management and climate change may have on these dynamics.
Restoration to Improve Soil Security and Ecosystem Services
Scott Chang
Professor
Department of Renewable Resources
University of Alberta
Canada
Short Biography
Dr. Scott Chang is a Professor at the University of Alberta and a guest professor at Zhejiang A&F University.
He received his PhD from the University of British Columbia, MSc from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and BSc from Zhejiang Agricultural University.
His main research interests are in forest soils, biogeochemistry, and the application of soil science in land reclamation, agriculture, forestry, and global change.
Dr. Chang is currently a regional editor for Biology and Fertility of Soils, and an editorial board member for Pedosphere, Carbon Research, Soil and Environmental Health, and Biochar. He served as Chair of the Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition Commission of the International Union of Soil Science. He was elected a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (2016), American Society of Agronomy (2016), and the Canadian Society of Soil Science (2018).
Field of Interest or Research
Forest soils, soil biochemistry, soil microbial ecology, land reclamation, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, and agroforestry.
Organic Rice Farming to Improve Soil Security and Carbon Sequestration
Weiguo Cheng
Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Yamagata University
Japan
Short Biography
Dr. Weiguo Cheng received his B.S degree in Agricultural Microbiology from Huazhong Agricultural University, China in 1986.
After he worked for Institute of Soil & Fertilizer, Anhui Academy of Agri-Sciences in his hometown province for 10 years, he came Japan and earned his Ph. D degree in Soil Science from Chiba University in 2000.
He studied in National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan and Florida International University in Miami, USA as Posdoc and visiting researcher before he moved to Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University in 2010, as Associate Professor and Professor from 2018. He also is an Adjunct Professor in The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University.
Field of Interest or Research
Dr. Weiguo Cheng is particularly interested in carbon and nitrogen dynamics in different terrestrial ecosystems, stable isotopes probing on bio-geochemical processes, greenhouse gas emissions with global warming, land use and management changes, organic rice farming, compost, etc.
Identifying and Mapping Genosoils and Phensoils for the Evaluation of Soil Capacity and Condition Continentally
Mercedes Román Dobarco
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellow
Sydney Institute of Agriculture (currently) / Terrestrial Ecology
The University of Sydney (currently) / Basque Centre for Climate Change (from May 2023)
Australia / Spain
Short Biography
Mercedes studied Forestry Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain) and completed a PhD in Ecology at Utah State University (Utah, USA), where she investigated the effects of overstory species and abiotic drivers on soil organic carbon storage and stabilization in mixed forests of Utah.
In the field of digital soil mapping, Mercedes produced the French map of available water capacity for the GlobalSoilMap project during her postdoc at INRAE (Orléans, France) and has generated maps of SOC fractions and soil microbial biodiversity for the TERN Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia.
Since 2019 she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Sydney Institute of Agriculture, where she developed a framework for mapping reference soils and assessing changes in soil condition. Currently, she contributes to the spatial assessment of soil security dimensions for Australian soils.
Field of Interest or Research
Her research is focused on two main areas: 1) soil organic carbon storage and stabilization in wildlands and agroecosystems, and 2) digital soil mapping (DSM) as a tool for sustainable management and soil security assessment.
With the SELVANS project (MSCA fellowship) she will investigate the effects of forest management on soil condition with respect to reference soils and identify thresholds of indicators to alert on the potential loss of soil functionality.
A Soil Security Assessment: the Capacity and Condition of Nutrient Cycling in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia
Sandra Joy Evangelista
PhD Student
School of Life and Environmental Science
The University of Sydney
Australia
Short Biography
Graduated at The University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with first class Honours supervised by Alex McBratney and Budiman Minasny in 2019.
She is currently working on a quantitative framework to assess the soil security dimensions of the soil nutrient cycle at a local scale as part of a larger collaborative project on Soil Security entitled ‘A calculable approach to securing Australia’s soil’ by the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship.
Field of Interest or Research
Soil security, soil nutrient cycling, agronomy, digital soil mapping, digital agriculture.
Connectivity – Securing Soil through Care
Damien Joseph Field
Professor of Global Soil Security and Soil Education
School of Life and Environmental Science & Sydney Institute of Agriculture
The University of Sydney
Australia
Short Biography
Damien Field is the Professor of Global Soil Security and Soil Education at The University of Sydney, Australia.
Damien has had an extensive research program working on fundamental soil problems through to investigating soil issues of importance for agriculture and is one of the co-founders of the Soil Security concept which remains a significant focus of his Australian and international research.
Damien was the Commission Chair and subsequent Division 4 Chair in the International Union of Soil Science. He is and executive member of the Soil Science Australia’s Training Board and for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. He chaired positions for the Australian Sol Network on Teaching Curriculums and the Australian Examinations and procedures Committee for Australia’s Certified Practicing Soil Science accreditation.
He is also a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) and an elected Fellow in Soil Science Australia (FSSA).
Comparing Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks in Paddy and Upland Soils: Accumulation, Stabilization Mechanisms, and Environmental Drivers
Tida Ge
Professor, Doctor
Institute of Plant Virology
Ningbo University
China
Short Biography
Dr. Tida Ge, PI, State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Ningbo University. Ph.D. in Horticulture (2008) from Shanghai Jiaotong University (China).
Dr. Ge has studied and worked in various universities and institutes worldwide: China, UK, Germany, USA and Japan. He is an expert in soil ecology, biogeochemistry, especially in the field of rhizosphere processes and C cycling.
He has published >25 papers as the first or corresponding author in journals including EST, GCB and SBB, and an h-index of 47.
Field of Interest or Research
Paddy soils, Soil - plant - microorganism interactions, Soil biogeochemistry, Soil C and N dynamics, C sequestration, Stable and radioactive isotope, Microbial C use strategies, Priming effects, land use.
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TBA
Harald Ginzky
Lawyer, Scientist
General Aspects Water and Soil
German Environment Agency
Germany
Short Biography
Dr. Harald Ginzky is lawyer by training and an expert of environmental law for 30 years. His doctoral thesis analyzed the interface of international trade law and sustainability clauses. He has published more than 100 scientific papers on a wide variety of topics of environmental law.
Since 2003, he is affiliated with the German Environment Agency. He has been member of German delegations to various international environmental treaties/regime, inter alia, International Seabed Authority, International Maritime Organization, UNCCD, OSPAR and HELCOM as well as FAO and the Global Soil Partnership.
In addition, he has worked in the field of technical cooperation in other continents, with a focus on Africa. Harald Ginzky is editor in chief of the “International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy” (Springer) and the special issues on “Soil Governance” of the journal “Soil Security” (Elsevier).
Field of Interest or Research
-
Sustainable soil management from a governance perspective – in Germany, at the EU and international level and in other countries
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Marine protection governance
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Governance of deep seabed mining
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Climate Engineering
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Transformation science
Managing Nitrogen for Food Security and Environmental Protection
Baojing Gu
Professor
Department of Resource Science
Zhejiang University
China
Short Biography
Dr. Baojing Gu is a professor at College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, China.
He was trained as an ecologist with an emphasis on biogeochemical nitrogen cycling analysis and modelling from Zhejiang University in China and the University of Alberta and McGill University in Canada.
Currently, he is co-leading the cost and benefit analyses of global nitrogen use under the framework of International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) to improve our understanding on the interactions between human and the nitrogen cycles.
He has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including some top-ranked journals such as Science, Nature and PNAS.
Field of Interest or Research
His major contributions are in the areas of large-scale biogeochemical nitrogen cycles and their response to natural and socioeconomic factors. He developed the Coupled Human And Natural Systems (CHANS) nitrogen cycling model to explore the interactions between regional/global nitrogen cycles and human activities and how to manage nitrogen cycle for a better global sustainable development. The CHANS model has been applied in many countries including China, Australia, Japan, and recommended as one of the standard nitrogen budget models under the INMS.
He attempts to better quantify the cost and benefit of nitrogen use and loss and understand how nitrogen cycling link to policy and management. He found that small farm size potentially leads to overuse of agricultural chemicals with socioeconomic development, and urbanization can release more croplands and benefit food security. Currently, his research interest focuses on sustainable development of agriculture to produce more food with less pollution, involving urbanization and rural development, agricultural resource and environment, policy regulations, management for sustainable development.
Soil, Essential for Food Production, is Under Pressure from both the Nitrogen Issue and Food Security
Kentaro Hayashi
Professor / Senior Principal Scientist
Research Department / Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature / National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Japan
Short Biography
Kentaro Hayashi is a professor at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) and a senior principal scientist at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Japan. He received his Ph.D. at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan. He received his Ph.D. at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan.
He is a biogeochemist with special interest in the nitrogen (N) issue that is a tradeoff between the benefits of N use and the threats of N pollution.
He is leading the RIHN project “Towards Sustainable Nitrogen Use Connecting Human Society and Nature” (April 2022–March 2028).
He was awarded the 66th Japanese Society of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition Award in May 2021.
He has served as the director of the East Asia Regional Centre of the International Nitrogen Initiative since November 2022.
Field of Interest or Research
He has been interested in the terrestrial nitrogen cycling and its responses to environmental changes based on field science from cropland to both poles, i.e., High Arctic and Antarctica.
Now, he expands his interest in interdisciplinary approaches with scientists in various research fields and in transdisciplinary approaches with various stakeholders to address the N issue towards sustainable N use for future generations.
Biopores and Hyporheic Zones as 'Hot Spots' for Microbial Pollutant Degradation
Marcus A. Horn
Professor for Soil Microbiology
Institute of Microbiology
Leibniz University Hannover
Germany
Short Biography
Marcus A. Horn is a microbial ecologist with a research focus on natural and engineered systems. He studied biology at the University of Bayreuth (Germany) and the University of York (UK), and his diploma in biology in 2000.
During his PhD in the group of Prof. Harold L. Drake, he started to work on the importance of invertebrate-soil microbiome interactions for greenhouse gas metabolism. Afterwards, he was hired as associated professor at the University of Bayreuth at the Department of Ecological Microbiology. His habilitation was about "Microbial Metabolism of Atmospheric Trace Gases in Terrestrial Ecosystems: Implications for Global Warming".
Finally, Marcus started his recent position as professor in soil microbiology at the Leibniz University Hannover in 2016. He serves as editor for FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Frontiers in Microbiology and as editorial board member of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Field of Interest or Research
Current research is about the microbial ecology of greenhouse gas metabolizing microbes, xenobiotic degradation, and microbe-invertebrate interactions.
Delineation of Hyporheic Zone Depth and Using Probabilistic Approach
Heejung Kim
Associate Professor (Early tenured)
Department of Geology
Kangwon National University
Korea, Republic of
Short Biography
Heejung Kim is an Associate Professor (Early tenured) at Kangwon National University.
She has published over 70 research papers in international and Korean journals.
She received her Ph.D. degree from School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea in 2015. She received the Young Geologist Award in 2018 and Best Associate Editor Award in 2020 from the Geological Society of Korea.
She also is a Deputy of the Associate Editor and Section Editor for the Episodes and Science Progress (SCIE) journal, respectively.
Her research interests include microbial diversity in soil and groundwater, groundwater ecosystem, water security, and water policy.
Field of Interest or Research
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Soil/groundwater environments
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Groundwater-surface water interactions
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Geomicrobiology
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Water security
TBA
Alan Kruszel
Board Member
The Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC)
Canada
Short Biography
Alan Kruszel is a farmer, crop consultant and member of the board of directors of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association and the Soil Conservation Council of Canada.
He received his BSc (Agr) from MacDonald Campus of McGill University in Montreal in 1995 and has held his certified crop advisor designation from the American Society of Agronomy since 2003.
Alan is Co-Chair of the Ontario Soil Action Group, helping to guide the development of an implementation plan for New Horizons, Ontario’s Soil Health and Conservation Strategy. He currently sits on the Research and Innovation Committee of the Grain Farmers of Ontario. He has also served as Past Chair of the Soil Conservation Council of Canada as well as Past President of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association.
He has presented at many conferences and meetings over his twenty plus year long career and is renowned for his engaging talks and meeting facilitation skills.
Alan and his family also operate a small cash crop farm and a crop consulting business in Ontario, Canada. They grow primarily maize, soybeans, cereals and forages as well as many types of cover crops using no-till practices and 4R nutrient stewardship. Through their consulting business they have helped many Ontario producers to improve their nutrient management and enhance their soils through reduced tillage, cover crop adoption and other soil health building practices thereby ensuring greater long term sustainability.
Field of Interest or Research
His main area of interest is finding ways to promote broader adoption of soil health building practices on the agricultural landscape through extension and knowledge transfer.
Public Policy and Soil Security
Alex McBratney
Professor of Digital Agriculture & Soil Science
School of Life & Environmental Sciences
The University of Sydney
Australia
Short Biography
Alex McBratney has forty years experience in soil science.
He currently works on soil security, pedometrics and digital agriculture and collaborates with researchers all over the world. He is a Dokuchaev medalist from the International Union of Soil Sciences.
Alex is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal Soil Security.
Field of Interest or Research
Soil security, pedometrics, digital soil mapping, digital agriculture.
Securing Soil through Carbon Sequestration; Much more than a Climate Solution
Budiman Minasny
Professor
School of Life and Environmental Sciences
The University of Sydney
Australia
Short Biography
Budiman Minasny is a Professor in soil-landscape modelling at the University of Sydney.
He is a soil scientist, previously awarded the QEII and the Future Fellowships from the Australian Research Council. He is recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher from 2019 to 2022 by the Web of Science.
He has an undergraduate degree from Universitas Sumatera Utara in Indonesia and a MAgr and PhD degrees in soil science from the University of Sydney. He is passionate about the role of soil in managing climate change, food, water, energy security, and maintaining biodiversity.
Field of Interest or Research
Digital soil mapping and modelling, Soil Carbon
Ecosystem Services of Soil Carbon, Carbon Farming, and Carbon Market
Shruti Khadka Mishra
Senior Member of Technical Staff
Energy Water Systems Integration
Sandia National Laboratories
United States
Short Biography
Dr. Shruti Mishra is working as a Senior member of technical staff at the Sandia National Laboratories.
Dr. Mishra was trained as an applied economist at The Ohio State University, where she completed her master’s and PhD degrees.
She has been working on the domain of energy economics and ecosystem services valuation as a Fulbright Scholar and employee at the national laboratories, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the World Bank.
Field of Interest or Research
Dr. Mishra’s domain of work is in the interface of energy, environment, climate change and economic analysis.
She develops and demonstrates integrated assessment framework that couple biophysical models with economic models to generate information on the economic costs and benefits of energy innovations.
Dr. Mishra’s analytical work is on the quantification of ecosystem services associated with innovative energy solutions and estimation of the monetary values of ecosystem service benefits. Her analysis support in assessing the economic viability and environmental sustainability of energy innovation.
Her more recent work includes evaluation of ecosystem services associated with perennial bioenergy grass crops, sustainable aviation fuel, habitat management at large solar energy facilities etc.
Our Knowledge on the Magnitude and Fate of Global Soil Organic Carbon
Umakant Mishra
Principal Member of Technical Staff
Computational Biology & Biophysics
Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore
United States
Short Biography
Umakant Mishra is a computational soil scientist, who studies land use and climate change impacts on soil properties and functions.
Using field observations, remote sensing and environmental datasets, and geospatial and process-based modeling he quantifies anthropogenic and climatic impacts on the soil system.
He has published studies on land use and climate change impacts on soil system, lifecycle analysis of bioenergy crops, spatial prediction of soil properties at different scales, and benchmarking earth system model projections.
Field of Interest or Research
Umakant is currently investigating the environmental impacts of bioenergy crops, storage and dynamics of soil organic carbon, and benchmarking earth system model projections.
Integrating the Five Dimensions of Soil Security for a Scalable Soil Health Assessment Strategy
Cristine Morgan
Chief Scientific Officer
Soil Health Institute
United States
Short Biography
Dr. Cristine Morgan serves as Chief Scientific Officer at the Soil Health Institute, where she establishes research priorities to advance soil health and develops the scientific direction, strategy and implementation for soil health research programs.
Dr. Morgan is an adjunct professor of Soil Science at Texas A&M University. She is an editor in chief at Soil Security and Geoderma. Dr. Morgan has served on the board of directors for the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and is a fellow of SSSA.
Dr. Morgan earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her B.S. degree in Plant and Environmental Soil Sciences from Texas A&M University.
Field of Interest or Research
Soil Health; National Strategy for Assessing and advancing Soil Health
Relations between Soil, its Management, Food Security and Human Health
Margaret Ann Oliver
Visiting Professor
Soil Research Centre
University of Reading
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Margaret‘s research has focused on the application of a wide range of numerical and geostatistical methods to soil and other data including pollen counts, forestry, soil radon emissions, remotely sensed imagery, precision agriculture and the incidence of childhood cancer.
She has also written on soil and human health. She has published over 100 academic papers and has also made several contributions to books. She is co-author of three books and has edited two books.
Since retiring as Reader of Spatial Analysis from the University of Reading, she has been Co-Editor-in-Chief of Precision Agriculture, Deputy Editor and then Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Soil Science.
Since 2019 she has been Editor-in-Chief of the revision and updating of the Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment. She also has an award named after her, the Margaret Oliver award for young pedometricians.
Field of Interest or Research
I taught, applied and developed applications in pedometrics. I focused on multivariate statistical methods and geostatistics. My specific interests were in sample design for spatial analysis and eventual mapping, risk analysis associated with prescribed thresholds in relation to soil pollutants or deficiencies of crop nutrients, and the relations between different scales of spatial variation.
Precision agriculture and remote imagery were important foci in my later work and also an increasing interest in the relations between soil, food security and human health. I am still writing on the latter.
Can Biochar Promote Soil Security for Healthy Foods?
Genxing Pan
Director
Institute of Resources, Environment and Ecosystem of Agriculture
Nanjing Agricultural University
China
Short Biography
Dr. Pan is a senior soil scientist in China. He is the chair professor in soil science and the direct of Institute of Resources, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture at Nanjing Agricultural University.
He has been served as a Board member of IBI since 2015, the chair of Soil Health Commission under International Science Committee of Environmental Problems (SCOPE) since 2019.
His main research activities include sustainable soil management for agricultural and environment sustainability, biomass pyrolysis and biochar application in agriculture and waste management, particularly of healthy soil and food production.
He has published more than 100 papers in international journals and recognized by Clariviat Analysis as a top 1% highly cited scientist in agriculture and climate change science.
Field of Interest or Research
Soil health, soil organic matter and C sequestration, biochar in agriculture
Challenges in Modelling Soil Security at Global Level
Laura Poggio
Senior Researcher – Digital Soil Mapping and Remote Sensing
ISRIC – World Soil Information
The Netherlands
Short Biography
Laura Poggio has a background in forestry and environmental sciences.
During her PhD she focused on the development of a simplified land-use modelling method for the assessment of the risk of heavy metal polluted soil towards human health and evaluating the influence of planning measures on this risk. Other research experiences (JRC - Ispra (I)) included the analysis and evaluation of pan-European geographical data-sets with investigation of data quality and error propagation.
From 2008-2018, Laura worked at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen (Scotland, UK). The main focus of her research was spatio-temporal modelling and integration of information on soil-plant-climate interactions with land use to assess the role of key natural resources supporting ecosystem services and to quantify the impacts of climate and land use changes at different spatial scales with uncertainty propagation.
Field of Interest or Research
Main interests are in pedometrics and digital soil mapping, how to develop new covariates from remote sensing products and how to integrate soil data in the wider context of environmental modelling. At ISRIC, Laura is responsible for the development of modelling approaches for new mapped soil products (properties and functions) to support sustainable land management in a changing climate. Reproducible research (workflows and results) and the use of open source tools for spatial analysis are key components of the methodological development.
Preserving the Soil Microbiome for the Circular Bioeconomy and Human Health
Charles W. Rice
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Agronomy
Kansas State University
United States
Short Biography
Charles (Chuck) Rice is a University Distinguished Professor and holds the Vanier University Professorship at Kansas State University.
He is a Professor of Soil Microbiology in the Department of Agronomy. He earned his degrees from Northern Illinois University and the University of Kentucky. He has advised over 50 graduate students and 18 post-doctorates and has over 250 publications. Dr. Rice has also served in numerous capacities with professional societies including President of the Soil Science Society of America in 2011.
Internationally, he served on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to author a report on Climate Change in 2007.
He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Rice chaired the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine from 2016-2022.
Field of Interest or Research
Dr. Rice teaches courses and conducts research on soil carbon and nitrogen, soil health, microbial ecology, and climate change impacts on agricultural and grassland ecosystems.
Mapping Soil Condition (Phenoforms): What is Possible and How Can It be Done?
David G. Rossiter
Adjunct Professor / Guest Researcher
School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Section of Soil & Crop Sciences
Cornell University / ISRIC-World Soil Information
United States / The Netherlands
Short Biography
D. G. (David) Rossiter earned a BSc in soil science from Cornell University (1973), an MSc in agronomy and plant breeding from the Pennsylvania State University (1977) and also in computer science from Cornell University (1986), and a PhD in agronomy and international agriculture from Cornell University (1988).
He worked as a soil mapper for North Carolina State University (NCSU). He developed the Automated Land Evaluation System (ALES) and worked as a land evaluator for the Venezuelan Ministry of Environment, and from 1997-2014 at the University of Twente (NL), Faculty ITC as a Senior University Lecturer in Earth Observation Systems.
He now works at Cornell as an Adjunct Professor, where he teaches a graduate course in spatial analysis for agronomic and environmental applications, as a Guest Researcher at ISRIC-World Soil Information, and as a consultant to CIMMYT.
Field of Interest or Research
His main research interest is in modern methods of soil resource inventory and the multi-purpose interpretation of soil geographic databases for both rural and urban applications. Both of these require increasingly quantitative methods, including geostatistics, statistical computing and modelling.He collaborates with researchers in related fields, primarily on the (geo)statistical and data analysis aspects of their work.
For Soil Security, his main interest is in clarifying the genoform/phenoform concept and mapping phenoforms/dynamic soil properties over large areas.
Soil Organisms as Drivers of Soil Security
Cornelia Rumpel
Research Director
Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences
CNRS, Sorbonne U.
France
Short Biography
Cornelia Rumpel is a soil biogeochemist working for the French National Research Center (CNRS) at the Institute of Ecology and Environment in Paris, France.
Her work is concerned with the dynamics of organic matter at the molecular scale and biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in natural and managed ecosystems. She is dealing with temperate and tropical environments and contributed to the change of several paradigms. Since a few years her work focuses on innovative agroecological strategies to increase soil carbon sequestration.
As a member of the scientific and technical committee of the international 4 per 1000 initiative, she is also working at the science policy interphase to communicate the value of soil carbon for soil health, climate change adaptation and food production.
Field of Interest or Research
Biogeochemical cycling and soil organic matter dynamics
Soil Security in Urban Environments - A Case Study from the Berlin Metropolitan Area
Kolja Thestorf
PhD Student
Geography Department
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Germany
Short Biography
With a background in physical geography and a strong focus on pedology, sedimentology, and quaternary sciences, M. Sc. Kolja Thestorf currently is a PhD researcher (since 2016) at the Geography Department of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin).
His works combine classic soil scientific approaches (soil genesis and soil classification) with new analytical and soil description techniques. By working closely together with the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action his research contributes to assessing and facing the consequences of human impact, soil contamination, soil sealing, and land-use change in urban areas.
His ongoing work is focusing on antimony (Sb) in soils of the Berlin Metropolitan Area and the environmental risks of emerging contaminants.
Field of Interest or Research
Urban Soil Science, technogenic materials (artifacts), SUITMAs, heavy metal analysis, environmental risk assessment
Spatial Evaluation and Quantification of Soil Multifunctionality Across Europe: Where to Start?
Alexandre Wadoux
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow
Soil-Agrosystem-Hydrosystem Interaction Lab
National Institute for Agronomy and Environment (INRAE)
France
Short Biography
Alexandre Wadoux is a Marie Curie Fellow at the French National Institute for Agronomy and Environment (INRAE) in Montpellier, France.
Before that has was a research associate in digital soil mapping at the University of Sydney.
He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Angers in France, a MSc in soil science from the University of Tubingen in Germany, a Master in epistemology of sciences from the University of Nantes in France and a PhD in applied geostatistics from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
He has made contributions to soil science through the development of quantitative methods for soil sampling, mapping and assessment using geostatistics, statistical learning algorithms and spectroscopy.
Field of Interest or Research
Alexandre Wadoux is a soil scientist focusing on soil-landscape modelling. He relies on statistical and computational methods for soil research, emphasizing data science and spatial modelling. His main research interests are:
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Spatial sampling designs and design optimization
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Evaluation and quantification of soil functions
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Uncertainty quantification and propagation in environmental modelling
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Statistical learning algorithms and the interpretation of models
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Infrared soil spectroscopy and chemometrics
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Epistemology and history of data-driven soil science
Countries’ Rio Convention Commitments for Measures Related to Soil Organic Carbon and Agricultural Production: Focus on Africa
Liesl Wiese-Rozanov
Independent Consultant: Agricultural Science and Policy
South Africa
Short Biography
Liesl works as an independent international consultant in agricultural science and policy, based in South Africa. With a PhD in soil science, Liesl provides technical input into soil policy and strategy development processes, as well as sustainable land management project development. She has conducted policy research to assess how soil organic carbon and soil health have been addressed in countries’ targets to the three Rio Conventions on climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity.
Through these activities, Liesl has developed particular interest in connecting people, ideas, and processes to leverage synergies and simplify solutions across partners, institutions, countries, and Rio Conventions to support increased sustainable land management and soil health at scale.
Field of Interest or Research
Soil security, soil science-policy interface, finding holistic and systemic solutions to improving soil health, rethinking what we know to find simple solutions to old problems.
The Potential of Global Soil Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Achieving Carbon Neutrality
Xiaoyuan Yan
Professor
Institute of Soil Science
Chinese Academy of Sciences
China
Short Biography
Xiaoyuan Yan is a research professor at the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing.
He earned a BSc in soil science and plant nutrition from Hunan Agricultural University in 1992, and a PhD in soil science from the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1998.
He did two-year postdoctoral research in Japan International Center for Agricultural Sciences and then worked in Frontier Research Institute of Global Change for another five years.
He currently serves as the secretary general of the Soil Science Society of China, and vice chairperson of Division 2 of International Union of Soil Science.
Field of Interest or Research
His main research interest is carbon and nitrogen cycling in agroecosystem, including greenhouse house gas emission, soil carbon sequestration, non-point source pollution.
Soil Security:Linking Soil Health to Planetary Health
Yong-Guan Zhu
Professor
Environmental Soil Science and Biogeochemistry
Chinese Academy of Sciences
China
Short Biography
Professor Yongguan (Yong-Guan) Zhu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Fellow of TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences), professor of environmental soil science and environmental biology, is currently the Science Director of the Institute of Urban Environment, and also a professor at the Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, CAS. Professor Zhu is a leader in taking multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approaches to environmental problems, and has been working on environmental health and wellbeing related to pollution, biodiversity and microbial ecology, particularly in biogeochemistry of arsenic, nitrogen and phosphorus in soil-plant systems, soil microbiome and soil health, and environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance.
He obtained his PhD in environmental biology from Imperial College, London in 1998; before returning to China in 2002, he worked in The Queen’s University of Belfast, UK (Fellowship program of The Royal Society London) and The University of Adelaide, Australia.
Professor Zhu is currently the founding editor of Soil Ecology Letters, and editorial members for a few other international journals. He is a scientific committee member for the ISC (International Science Council) program on Human Health and Wellbeing in Changing Urban Environment, and Committee of Science Planning of ISC.
He served for nine years as a member of Standing Advisory Group for Nuclear Application, International Atomic Energy Agency (2004-2012). Professor Zhu is the recipient of many merit awards, among them including TWAS Award for Agricultural Science 2013, National Natural Science Award 2009, International Union of Soil Science von Liebig Award 2022.
Professor Zhu has published over 500 papers in international journals (such as Science, Nature, PNAS, Nature Microbiology, Nature Plants), with an H-index of 110 (Web of Science). He was selected as a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher (2016-2022).
Special Talk
TBA
Denny Rigby
Publisher
Soil Sciences
Elsevier
United Kingdom
Short Biography
Denny Rigby is a Publisher for the journal Soil Security. She holds a PhD in ecotoxicology from Imperial College London.
Field of Interest or Research
Land use management, nanoparticle-soil interactions, nanoparticle plant uptake and their effects on soil microbiology and the rhizosphere.