Invited Speakers
As of today
(The list may be subject to change.)
Last name alphabetically
Opening Speaking
Global Soil Resources at a Critical Crossroads
Abad CHABBI
Director of Research
Agroecosystem
National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE)
France
Abad CHABBI, is a plant ecologist and soil biogeochemist. He worked at the Louisiana State University, USA; the Faculty of Environmental Science in Cottbus, Germany; the University of Pierre & Marie, Curie (UPMC), France; and the INRAE research council where he has been leading the National Observatory for Environmental Research-Agro-Ecosystems, Biogechemical Cycles and Biodiversity since 2009.
Abad Chabbi research centers on biogeochemical cycles in the context of climate and land use changes. He is also working with Strategic Research Infrastructures and interested in science policy and societal challenges. Throughout his career, Abad Chabbi has focused on coordinating large international and multidisciplinary projects, including ExpeER and AnaEE under the strategic European Commission framework (FP7).
He also chairs Working Group at the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, at the Hercules Foundation for Investments in Research and Innovation”, Brussels… and provides expertise worldwide to numerous research councils.
Abad Chabbi is member of the National Ecological Observatory Network laboratory (NEON), Boulder, Colorado USA and Guest Professor at BIOREN-UFRO, Temuco, Chile. He supervised 18 PhD students and postdocs and has published more than 150 papers in international peer reviewed journals, book chapters, books, and special issues.
Plenary Speakers
Physical, Chemical and Biological Strategies to Enhance Carbon Storage in Subsoils
Davey JONES
Chair of Soil & Environmental Science
Environment Centre Wales / Food Futures Institute
Bangor University / Murdoch University
United Kingdom / Australia
Davey Jones holds a Professorial Chair in Soil and Environmental Science at Bangor University and Murdoch University in Western Australia.
A major focus of his research is on understanding below-ground processes with specific focus on nutrients and human pathogen behaviour in water-food-soil-plant-microbial systems.
Current applications of his work include (1) promoting carbon sequestration in agricultural systems and understanding the factors regulating carbon cycling and greenhouse gas emissions, (2) developing ways to improve nutrient use efficiency in cropping systems with specific focus on nitrogen and phosphorus, (3) soil microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning, and (4) the impact of flooding, drought and ozone on ecosystem functioning.
He has published more than 572 journal articles and advises UK government on both their waste and climate change policies.
SMART Biochar Technology — A Shifting Paradigm towards Advanced Materials and Healthcare Research
Yong Sik OK
Director
APRU Sustainable Waste Management Program Director,
Korea Biochar Research Center Korea University
Korea, Republic of
Dr. Ok is a full professor and global research director of Korea University, Seoul, Korea. He has published over 900 research papers and books, 92 of which have been ranked as Web of Science ESI top papers (90 have been selected as “Highly Cited Papers” (HCPs), and two as “Hot Papers”). He has been a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher (HCR) since 2018 in Cross Field, Environment and Ecology, and Engineering. In 2019, he became the first Korean to be selected as an HCR in the field of Environment and Ecology. Again in 2021, he became the first Korean HCR in two fields: Environment and Ecology, and Engineering. He is working at the vanguard of global efforts to develop sustainable waste management strategies and technologies to address the rising crisis in electronic and plastic waste, and pollution of soil and air with particulate matter.
Dr. Ok has also served in a number of positions worldwide including, as an honorary professor at the University of Queensland (Australia), a visiting professor at Tsinghua University (China), an adjunct professor at the University of Wuppertal (Germany), and a guest professor at Ghent University (Belgium). He maintains a worldwide professional network by serving as a Co-Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, an Editor of Environmental Pollution, a member of the editorial advisory board of Environmental Science & Technology, and an editorial board member of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Chemical Engineering Journal, and Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, and several other top journals. He currently serves as the Director of the Sustainable Waste Management Program for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and the Co-President of the International ESG Association.
Moreover, he has served on the Scientific Organizing Committee of P4G Nature Forum: Climate Change and Biodiversity, and Nature Forum: Plastics and Sustainability. Dr. Ok has also served as the chairman of numerous major conferences such as the Engineering Sustainable Development series (ESD series), organized by the APRU and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). In 2021, Dr. Ok hosted the first Nature conference among South Korean universities in Seoul on waste management and valorization for a sustainable future together with Chief Editors of Nature Sustainability (Dr. Monica Contestabile), Nature Electronics (Dr. Owain Vaughan), and Nature Nanotechnology (Dr. Fabio Pulizzi). Prof. Ok will host the first Nature Forum on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) for Global Sustainability: the “E” Pillar for Sustainable Business.
Benefits and Trade-offs of Soil Carbon Sequestration
Cornelia RUMPEL
Research Director
Institute for Ecology and Environmental Sciences
CNRS
France
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 the 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 the development of innovative agroecological strategies to increase soil carbon sequestration.
She supervised 18 PhD students to successful completion of their thesis and has published more than 200 papers in international peer reviewed journals. She is also working at the science policy interphase to communicate the value of soil carbon sequestration as response to global challenges.
Soil Organic Matter as the Paradigm for Soil Quality and Soil Health Assessments
Joann WHALEN
James McGill Professor of Soil Science
Department of Natural Resource Sciences
McGill University
Canada
Joann K. Whalen is a James McGill Professor of Soil Science (endowed research chair) at McGill University and an Adjunct Professor at Gansu Agricultural University, China.
She received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University (USA) and is a professional agronomist in Quebec, Canada. She teaches courses and does research in the areas of soil fertility, soil ecology and environmental soil chemistry. She has published more than 230 peer-reviewed scientific publications and supervised/co-supervised more than 70 students at the M.Sc., Ph.D. and postdoctoral levels.
Dr. Whalen is a Chief Editor for Soil Biology and Biochemistry, an academic journal that publishes original, scientifically challenging research articles that explain soil biological processes. She currently serves as President-Elect of the American Society of Agronomy.
Feedback Responses of Grassland Soil Microbial Communities to Climate Warming
Jizhong ZHOU
George Lynn Cross Research Professor
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biologys
University of Oklahoma
United States
Dr. Jizhong Zhou is a George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Director for the Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
His expertise is on microbial ecology and genomics in the fields of climate change, groundwater bioremediation, wastewater treatments, bioenergy, and theoretical ecology. He was recognized as a top 0.1% globally highly cited researcher by all three major complementary metrics. He received the 2019 ASM Award for Environmental Research, DOE Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in 2014, and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2001.
He is an Editor-in-Chief for mLife, a senior Editor for ISME J, and a former Senior Editor for mBio and Applied and Environmental Microbiology. He is a Fellow of International Water Association, American Academy of Microbiology, Ecological Society of America, and American Association for Advancement of Science.
Keynote Speakers
Tracing Manure-derived SOM in Agricultural Watersheds Using Dual δ13C and δ15N and SIAR Model
Woo-Jung CHOI
Professor (Full)
Department of Rural and Bio-Systems Engineering
Chonnam National University
Korea, Republic of
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1991-2002 Seoul National University (BSc. MSc. & Ph.D. in Environmental Soil Science)
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2003-2005 University of Alberta (Post-doc.)
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2005-present Chonnam National University (Professor)
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2020-present Director, Agri-Bio Institute of Climate Change Management, CNU
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2020-present Leader, Unit for Climate-Smart Reclaimed Tideland Agriculture (Brain Korea 21 Project)
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2009-present: Editor (Biology & Fertility of Soils, Journal of Soils & Sediments,
Canadian Journal of Soil Science, Communications in Soil Science & Plant Analysis,
Korean Journal of Soil Science & Fertilizer,
and Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture)
Soil Fluxomics: Understanding the Microbial Metabolism as Driver of C and Nutrient Cycles
Michaela A. DIPPOLD
Professor
Department of Geo-Biosphere Interactions
University of Tuebingen
Germany
Michaela Dippold is biogeochemist with strong focus on biogeochemical fluxes at the plant-soil interface especially the rhizosphere. Her work aims for combining element transformations and fluxes with their biotic drivers focusing on the microbial metabolism. Combining molecular ecological tools across all post-genomic levels with metafluxomics and microbial functions in soils is key methodological emphasis of her work.
Michaela graduated with a diploma in Geoecology and one in Biochemistry at the University of Bayreuth, where she also received her PhD. She then went to the University of Goettingen, first as academic assistant in Agricultural Soil Science, thereafter as independent Junior Professor of the Biogeochemistry of Agroecosystems group. Since 2021 she is head of the Geo-Biosphere Interactions Chair at the Department of Geosciences (University of Tuebingen).
Challenges and Opportunities of Managing SOM in Dryland Cropping Systems
Mark FARRELL
Principal Research Scientist
Agriculture and Food
CSIRO
Australia
Dr Mark Farrell is Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO in Adelaide, Australia, where he leads the Biogeochemistry Team.
His research primarily focuses on organic carbon and nitrogen cycling in agricultural systems, but he also has extensive experience in natural systems, particularly in the Australian arid zone.
Mark uses a range of techniques to establish a mechanistic understanding of systems and how they are perturbed by changes to management and environment. These include solid-state NMR, physical fractionation, rapid spectroscopy and stable- and radio- isotopes, coupled with microbial activity assays and the analysis of microbial community structure.
Mark is also Deputy Editor for Soil Chemistry at the European Journal of Soil Research, and chaired the last SOM meeting in Adelaide in 2019.
Rusty Sink Mechanisms of Carbon Trap by Iron Plaque: Imaging of Rhizosphere Processes and Global Implications
Tida GE
Professor
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products
Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University
China
Ge Tida is Professor of Environmental Soil Science and Biogeochemistry at Ningbo University with expertise in soil ecology, biogeochemistry, land use and agroecology, especially in nutrient cycling.
His research focuses on rhizosphere ecology in agricultural systems and the use of isotopes, sequencing technologies and biomarkers to evaluate soil functioning. He has published >100 papers.
Not only Soil Organic Matter; Effect of Alternative Fuels Adaptation and Increasing Soil Carbon on Soil Greenhouse Gases Emissions and Atmospheric Carbon Balance
Ilya GELFAND
Senior Lecturer
French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Israel
Ilya Gelfand have published 30 peer-review scientific publications and a book chapter as first author, co-author and corresponding author. These including publications in top interdisciplinary journals; Nature, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (USA), and Environmental Sciences & Technology.
In addition, Dr. Gelfand have published in tier one, field-specific journals such as Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Global Change Biology, and Biogeochemistry.
In his work he had explored environmental and climatic effects of widespread use of renewable energy, climatic effects of land-use change, energy balances of agriculture, and effects of land use and management on soil green-house gases emissions. Gelfand's work was covered by public media including USA and German national public radios and he served as expert panel member for the OECD.
Limits and Benefits of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Croplands
Kees Jan van GROENIGEN
Senior Lecturer
Department of Geography
University of Exeter
United Kingdom
Kees Jan is a biogeochemist; through field experiments and data synthesis, he tries to understand how plants and soil respond to environmental change and management practices.
He has studied carbon and nutrient cycles in a wide range of ecosystems, including grasslands, cropland, temperate forests and rice paddies. He often uses meta-analytic techniques to synthesize findings in his field of research.
He also studies the role of soil microbes in carbon and nitrogen cycles, using techniques such as incubation experiments, isotopic tracers and analyses of biomarkers.
Balancing SOM Accrual and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Hydric Agricultural Soils
Steven J HALL
Associate Professor
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
Iowa State University
United States
Steven Hall’s research group takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding soil organic matter dynamics, production of greenhouse gases, and nutrient cycling and water pollution.
He has worked in a wide spectrum of natural ecosystems but increasingly focuses on the United States Corn Belt, a region of intensive agricultural production where soils mediate globally important environmental impacts.
Steven received a BS and MS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Utah and has been a faculty member at Iowa State University since 2015.
The Methane-driven Interaction Network in Terrestrial Methane Hotspots
Adrian HO KAH WYE
Research Group Leader (Scientific Staff)
Institute for Microbiology
Leibniz University Hannover
Germany
Adrian Ho is a research group leader, currently pursuing his Habilitation (since 2017) at the Leibniz University Hannover, Germany.
His research focuses on elucidating the methanotroph “interactome”, addressing the role and relevance of the methane-driven interaction network across kingdoms for community functioning under global change scenarios. Stable isotope labelling in combination with high throughput sequencing and meta-“omics” approaches are applied to probe the interacting members of naturally-occurring complex communities, and complemented by studies using artificially assembled communities.
Adrian Ho is an editorial board member for the journals FEMS Microbiology Ecology and Frontiers in Microbiology, and serves in the review panel for the national funding agencies of Norway, Belgium, Poland, and Germany.
Smart Fertilizer Developments Using Natural Organic Matters
Jong-Rok JEON
Associate Professor
Department of Agricultural Chemistry
Gyeongsang National University
Korea, Republic of
Dr. Jeon received his bachelor and PhD from POSTECH. After graduation, he had worked in LG Chem Research Park as a researcher.
His research focuses on understanding physicochemical and biological properties of plant lignin and coal-derived humic substances. He is also interested in developing slow-release and rhizosphere-responsive phosphorus fertilizers using natural polymeric structures containing oxygen-based functional groups.
Soil Organic Matter (SOM) as a Key Controlling Variable for CH4 Oxidation in Forest Soils
Hojeong KANG
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Yonsei University
Korea, Republic of
Dr. Kang is a Full Professor at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
He received BSc from Seoul National University and PhD from University of Wales, Bangor, UK. Before joining the current position, he was Professor at Ewha Womans University and a postdoc research fellow at University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.
Professor Kang has published more than 120 international journal papers including 2 in ‘Nature’ and 2 in Nature-research journals. He is currently serving as Associate editor for ‘Ecological Engineering’ and editorial board members for ‘Microbial Ecology’, ‘Ecosystem Services’ and ‘Pedosphere’. Professor Kang’s research focuses on effects of global climate change on soil microbes and GHG emissions.
Challenges and Opportunities for Enhancing Food Security and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Smallholder Farming in Sub-Saharan Africa
Dong-Gill KIM
Associate Professor
Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources
Hawassa University
Ethiopia
Research interests are mainly carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and climate change resilience in agroecosystems.
He carried out various GHG research in South- Korea, USA, Ireland and New Zealand and currently works at Hawassa University, Ethiopia.
He extensively collaborates with researchers in Africa, Europe, and North and Latin America for enhancing food security and GHG mitigation of smallholder farming systems. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Iowa State University, USA.
Organic Amendments in Rice Paddy: Challenges and Opportunities on Global Warming
Pil Joo KIM
Professor
Division of Applied Life Science
Gyeongsang National University
Korea, Republic of
He continued involving himself in the development of soil management strategies to improve soil quality after his Ph.D. in Soil Science in 1997.
He was appointed as an assistant professor at Gyeongsang National University, Korea in 2001 and later as a full professor and department head in 2008. He published over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, which focused mostly on improving soil quality and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from arable soils.
He served as the vice-chairperson of Division 2, IUSS from 2010-2014, and contributed to the success of the 20th WCSS as the Chair of the Editing & Academic Committee. He is working as a specialist to improve agricultural productivity and construct Agricultural Training Centers in Senegal, Africa.
He is organizing the 8th symposium of soil organic matter as the president of the Korean Society of Soil Science and Fertilizer.
Application of Artificial Neural Network to Identify Compositional Differences in Coal Mine Affected Soils Analyzed with Ultrahigh-resolution Mass Spectrometry
Sunghwan KIM
Professor
Department of Chemistry
Kyungpook National University
Korea, Republic of
Dr. Kim received his bachelor and master degrees from Seoul National University and PhD from the Ohio State University. After graduation, he worked on FT-ICR Program at National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida State University as a postdoctoral researcher.
He moved to Korea Basic Science Institute as a senior research scientist and subsequently served as assistant, associate, and full professor in Department of Chemistry at the Kyungpook National University.
Dr. Kim has contributed to the molecular level identification of natural organic matters (NOM). His work combining van Krevelen diagram and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry data of NOM has pioneered molecular level identification of NOM compounds. His current research is focused on developing new analytical techniques to achieve the goal.
Occurance and Effects of Microplastics in Soil
Christian LAFORSCH
Chairholder
Department of Animal Ecology
University of Bayreuth
Germany
Prof. Laforsch is Chairholder of Animal Ecology I at the University of Bayreuth since 2012. From 2015 until September 2021 he was Vice President for Research & Junior Scholars at the University of Bayeuth. He began his academic career in Munich at the Ludwig Maximilian University. From 2009 until 2011 he was director of the Limnological Field Station Seeon and Interim Professor in Aquatic Ecology, Department of Biology II, LMU Munich.
Since 2018 he is speaker of the “Sonderforschungsbereich 1357” Collaborative Research Centre Microplastics, funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG.
The Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1357: "Microplastics - Laws of formation, transport, physico-chemical behaviour and biological effects: From model to complex systems as a basis for new solutions" researches the formation, migration and effects of microplastics and develops new approaches to solving this immense environmental problem.
Since 2019 he also is coordinator of the EU project Limnoplast:
Microplastics In Europe’s Freshwater Ecosystems: from sources to solutions
The Innovative Training Network (ITN) LimnoPlast is funded for four years by the EU out of its “Horizon 2020” programme in the framework of the Marie Skłodowska Curie measures.
CO2 and CH4 Dynamics from Organic Matter Decomposition beyond Abrupt Permafrost Thaw Event
Hanna LEE
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Norway
Dr. Hanna Lee is a terrestrial ecosystem ecologist and land surface modeler interested in the feedback cycles of global climate change and ecosystem carbon cycles.
In particular, she has been working on understanding and quantifying how climate warming is accelerating permafrost degradation and the subsequent greenhouse gas emissions from permafrost soil carbon.
Dr. Lee uses in situ observations to understand the processes and develop land surface models to better represent permafrost thaw processes in Earth System Models to ultimately quantify the feedback cycles.
Soil Microbiome-mediated Carbon Sequestration: Understanding the Mechanisms Across Different Ecosystems
Ashish MALIK
Lecturer in Biogeochemistry
School of Biological Sciences
University of Aberdeen
United Kingdom
Ashish Malik is a Lecturer in Biogeochemistry at University of Aberdeen since 2019.
His research focuses on understanding soil microbial processes involved in carbon cycling and the underlying mechanisms from population and community to ecosystem scales. A key objective is to determine how environmental change affects microbial physiology, carbon cycling and thus ecosystem functioning.
His group investigates how environmental change affects microbiome-soil carbon linkages to explicitly focus on the underlying mechanisms behind these linkages. Using a multi-scale integrated ecology approach, he hopes to leverage fundamental science to address key societal challenges of sustainable land use, climate change resilience and peatland restoration. He is also keen on exploring newer ways of doing research, improving research culture and promoting diversity and inclusivity in academia and beyond.
The Existential Challenge of Soil Carbon - Climate Feedbacks
Elise PENDALL
Professor of Soil Science
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Western Sydney University
Australia
TBA
Soil Organic Matter C:N:P Stoichiometry and Its Relationship with Soil Texture, Microbial Activity, Vegetation, and Climate
Marie SPOHN
Professor of Biogeochemistry of Forest Soils
Department of Soil and Environment
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Sweden
Marie Spohn is a Professor of Biogeochemistry of Forest Soils at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
Together with her group, she explores cycling of carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems.
She is specifically interested in interactions between different element cycles, and she uses a large range of methods, including soil chemical analyses, isotopes as well as microbiological tools.
Microbial Modulators of Soil Carbon Turnover: from Genes to Ecosystems
Pankaj TRIVEDI
Associate Professor
Microbiome Network and Department of Agricultural Biology
Colorado State University
United States
Dr Pankaj Trivedi is an Associate Professor of Microbiome Science at the Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University.
He is interested in investigating patterns of, and mechanisms underlying, biodiversity and community composition belowground, whilst also trying to establish and quantify potential links between soil biodiversity and belowground community composition and ecosystem processes/functioning and ecosystem services.
Working across natural, agricultural and managed ecosystems, his research aims to improve understanding of how factors such as climate change and land management impact microbial-mediated nutrient transformations, and how this affects productivity and sustainability of soils.
As tools for his research, he uses state-of-art environmental genomics strategies for microbial and whole soil community assessment; stable isotope tracers and chemical approaches to the analyses of ecosystem processes; and advanced statistical and modelling approaches to link belowground diversity with functions.
He has published over 100 research and serves as Editor for Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment.
Soil Organic Matter as a Self Organizing Systems
Michelle Mary WANDER
Professor
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois
United States
Michelle Wander is Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the Director of the Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program at the University of Illinois where she has studied ecological soil management, soil organic matter, and soil quality for over 25 years.
She co-founded eOrganic, the online National Extension resource for the organic community and co-owns Blue Moon Organic Farm in Urbana IL.
She was the lead author of the ‘Agriculture’ chapter in ESA-UCS’s ‘Confronting Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region’ and was elected Chair of Division 3 of the Soil Science Society of America, served on the Leonardo Academy’s Sustainable Agriculture Standards committee that drafted the ANSI ‘Leo 4000’ Standard, on the National Soil and Water Conservation Societies’ Policy Committee and, on the Soil Health Partnership’s Science Advisory Council.
She is an ongoing contributor to Argonne National Labs’ GREET model and the ‘Carbon Calculator for Land Use Change from Biofuels’ and, currently serves on advisory councils for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research’s Soil Health Council and the Inter-Institutional Foundation for Food and Agricultural Systems.
Soil Carbon Dynamics in Alpine Grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau
Yuanhe YANG
Deputy Director
State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change
Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China
Dr. Yang’s work mainly focus on soil carbon and global change, particularly in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. He has published more than 120 papers in international journals such as Science Advances, Nature Geoscience, Nature Communications, and Ecology Letters.
He was selected as the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2018, the National Ten Thousand Talent Program for Leading Scientists in 2019; Elsevier Highly Cited Chinese Researchers in 2021.
He also obtained Early-career Ecologist Award of the Asian Section of the Ecological Society of America in 2012, Young Scientist Award of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017, and served as Editorial Board Member of Global Change Biology during 2014-2017.