Speakers
Keynote speakers
Roberto Rosal holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and is currently a Full Professor at the University of Alcalá, Madrid. His research focuses on different topics within the fields of Environmental Chemistry and Materials Science. His main interests include the generation and fate of plastic pollutants, the fate and removal of aqueous (micro)pollutants from water and wastewater, and the toxicity assessment of emerging pollutants, mixtures, and by-products.
Vito Armando Laudicina is Associate Professor in Agricultural Chemistry at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences of the University of Palermo. He is Visiting Professor at Departamento di Ciencias Agroforestales – ETSIA (University of Seville, Spain). His research topics concern C and N dynamics in soils of semiarid environment; GHG emissions from agricultural soil; dynamics of soil microbial biomass and community structure under different management; nutrient recovery from treated wastewater; innovative biodegradable mulching films for a sustainable agriculture; genesis of calcic horizon. He teaches Agricultural chemistry, Chemical and physical soil analysis, Bioindicators of soil quality, Fertilization and plant nutrition. He is also member of the board of the international doctorate course in “Mediterranean Biodiversity”. He is currently leading the project “Soil biodegradation of nutrients enriched cellulose- and chitosan-derived mulching films for sustainable horticulture” funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and in the H2020 project “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions”.
Fulvia Tambone is Associate Professor in Soil Chemistry at the University of Milan - Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. She is author and co-author of about 100 scientific papers, 72 of them in peer-reviewed international journals related to soil chemistry, use and recycling of biomass in agriculture, production and application of renewable fertilizers, biotransformation of organic waste in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. She is an expert in spectroscopic (13C-CPMAS-NMR, HPLC, DRIFT) and respirometric techniques for the measurement of evolution and biological stability of organic matter in compost, sludge and digestate. Recently she has focused her interests on N and P speciation in soil and organic fertilizers. She collaborates with experts in forensic science through the application of some aspects of soil chemistry. Fulvia Tambone is active in third mission projects by providing seminars on environmental issues to inmates in penitentiary institutions.
Roland Bol is a research team leader on soil organic matter dynamics and elemental cycles at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany). He is also a Professor of Biogeochemistry at the School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University (UK) and holds the special visiting chair in Terrestrial Biogeochemistry at the University of Amsterdam (NL). He received his Ph.D. at the University of Bangor in Soil Science in 1994. His research is on complex biogeochemistry processes that occur at the soil-water-air interface in natural and agricultural ecosystems. His current funded projects deal with the role of colloids in heavy metals and phosphorus transfers from soil to water, micro and nano-plastics, rose waste composting, and nitrogen deposition around farms.
Silvia Celletti is a fixed-term researcher (RTDb) in Agricultural Chemistry at Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences of the University of Torino, where she is involved in the study of: (i) the use of biochar-based biofertilizers in viticulture and in the analysis of the effects on the soil/plant system (VITICHAR project) and (ii) the impact of bioplastics on variations in plant growth and soil characteristics (BIOPS project). She obtained her PhD at the University of Tuscia – Viterbo in 2016. Her main scientific activity focused on the study of physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of plants to nutrient deficiencies. In addition, she worked on an EFRE-FESR funded project at the Free University of Bolzano-Bozen, where she evaluated the solid and liquid fraction resulting from the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process on different plants in soilless culture systems.
Solicited speakers
Beatrice Giannetta is a researcher (RTDa) at University of Foggia. Her research is focused on the biogeochemical cycle of C and N in a variety of soils from different ecosystems. She is specifically interested in the formation and turnover of organo-mineral interactions in soils and sediments, related to the investigation of other relevant elements (e.g., Fe). Her recent research has dealt with the understanding of the mechanistic drivers of changes in soil organic C storage and the best practices to adopt in a world that is warming. She combines field and laboratory experiments with physical fractionations of soil and synchrotron-based spectroscopy analyses.
Matteo Garau is a fixed-term researcher (RTDa) in Agricultural Chemistry at the Department of Agriculture of the University of Sassari. In 2021 he obtained the PhD in Agricultural Sciences at the University of Sassari, winner of the SICA award for the best doctoral thesis 2020-2021 edition on the topic "Innovation and Technologies in the soil-plant system for sustainable development and responsible agriculture". He holds active collaborations with the University of Reading (UK) and KNUST (Ghana). His main research interests include studies to develop and adopt innovative and eco-sustainable techniques for the functional recovery of marginal, contaminated and degraded soils. In particular, the research concerns the application of organic amendments and microbial consortia to contaminated soils to increase the efficiency of phytoremediation techniques; and the valorisation of agro-industrial by-products for the production of organic amendments to be applied to degraded soils to increase eco-sustainable agricultural production especially in developing countries.
Elisa Pellegrini achieved a PhD degree in Environmental Science in 2017 and was awarded a Marie Skłodowska Curie fellowship (H2020) at the University of Copenhagen in 2019. In 2021, she achieved the national award For Women In Science from L’Oréal-UNESCO and currently, she works at the University of Udine as assistant professor in the field of Soil Chemistry. Her research focuses on plant-soil interactions in flooded environments with a particular interest in plant feedback mechanisms on soil processes. Her work spans from the microscale of the plant-soil interface to the landscape scale, focusing on plant and soil response to abiotic stresses. From 2017, she has gained experience with microsensors, planar optodes and DGT - diffusive gradients in thin films – techniques. These innovative approaches allow to monitor spatially and temporarily several gases and ions at high resolution and are effective tools for studying the rhizosphere processes. She has a dedicated website with more details on techniques and research outcomes at https://plant-and-soil.com/.
Antonio G. Caporale is a fixed-term senior researcher (RTDb) at the Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II (UniNA). PhD in Agrobiology and Agrochemistry (XXIV cycle) and holder of the following courses at UniNA: i) Fundamentals of agricultural chemistry and biochemistry (9 CFU); ii) Food authentication and traceability by soil-based indicators (6 CFU). He carried out research periods abroad, in the United States (Montclair, NJ) and in Spain (Oviedo), and he participated as lecturer (Erasmus+ program) in the Czech Republic (Brno). He got the ASN for associate professor in SC 07/E1. His research activities are mainly focused on geochemistry, bioaccessibility and mobility of contaminants and nutrients in the soil-plant system, sustainable soil management and food safety in highly-anthropized agricultural areas, fertility enhancement and productivity assessment of regolith/simulant-based substrates for space crop cultivation, food authentication by geochemical indicators and purification of contaminated water by low-cost adsorbents (Scopus ID: 36080509900).
Mariavittoria Verrillo is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Agricultural Sciences and CERMANU of the University of Naples Federico II. PhD in Agricultural and Agri-food sciences (XXXII cycle). She carried out research period abroad at the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Metabolomic Center of the University of Vienna. She was Principal Investigator of STAR 2018 (Pharmahumic Project) financed by UNINA and Compagnia San Paolo. She is holder of a teaching support contract for the course General and Organic chemistry AA 2023/24, of the Department of Biology UNINA. Her main research activities are focused on the extraction and chemical characterization of compost tea and humic substances from agro-food composted residues and evaluation of biostimulant, antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory features of organic extracts. Additionally, she works on combined metabolomic and lipidomic approaches by Orbitrap-Q-Elite of plants and the extraction and characterization of essential oils by GC-MS. Scopus ID: 57201662177.
Carlo Porfido is currently researcher at University of Bari, Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, working within the project National Research Centre for Agricultural Technologies (Agritech). He obtained a PhD in Agricultural Chemistry in 2018. His research mainly focuses on the speciation, distribution and bioavailability of potentially toxic elements in soils and in the dynamics of PTE in the soil-plant system. He has gained solid experience in X-ray spectrometry and imaging, including training periods abroad (University of Gent, University of Girona), which he applies for the development of innovative analytical approaches in agricultural chemistry and food science. He is laboratory supervisor of the “MicroXRayLab” of University of Bari.
Daniele Del Buono is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia. His main research focuses on the effect of biostimulants and plant extract on crops grown under normal and stress conditions (salinity and xenobiotic toxic compounds). He has studied the use of terrestrial and aquatic plants for the remediation of polluted waters (mainly by herbicides, nitrate and heavy metals) and the use of safeners and biostimulants to increase their phytoremediation potential. He has also been working on the valorization of agricultural waste, obtaining nanoscaled biopolymers, and biogenic synthesis of nanomaterials for applications in agriculture.
Costanza Ceccanti is researcher at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of University of Pisa. In 2020, she obtained her Ph.D in Agricultural Chemistry and Horticulture focusing on the study of the effect of pre- and post-harvest treatments on quality, organoleptic and nutraceutical properties of wild edible plants. Her scientific interest is based on the comprehension of physiological and biochemical adaptive mechanisms of agrifood plants to abiotic stresses. In particular, her last research aimed to maintain the balance between crop yield and quality in terms of nutraceutical compounds and properties through innovative agronomical systems or innovative technologies such as photomodulation and nutritional modulation.
Andrea Ertani is an Associate Professor at the University of Torino. His current professional activities include teaching on horticultural and medicinal plant crops and supply chains, as well as research on the pre-harvest environmental factors' effect on the quality and safety of fresh and minimally processed products, specifically leafy vegetables and aromatic herbs, along the minimally processed product chain and in production and post-harvest processes. Special emphasis is given to hydroponics and innovative technologies for water-saving in plant production systems. His studies stem from the need to find new strategies to improve the quality of agricultural production, with particular attention to environmental preservation. In response to this need, studies on the effects of biostimulant compounds on plant metabolism were initiated in 2005.
Federico Sacco is an Application Specialist for the Spectroscopic Line and Material Market Manager at SRA Instruments SpA (Agilent partner). In his current position, he provides application assistance for spectroscopy products as well as material analysis. He joined SRA in 2017 straight after graduating at Università degli Studi in Milan where he studied the development of multipurpose plants for synthesis of polyamines at the Department of Physical Chemistry. He has a Master Degree in Industrial Chemistry.
Pasquale Carlino is an Application specialist and service engineer for IRMS and EA instruments at Elementar Italy Srl. In his current position he provides application assistance and service training for elemental analyzers and stable isotopes spectrometers. He joined Elementar on 2015 after 10 years of research activities at Dept. of Environmental Biology at La Sapienza University of Rome. He holds a PhD in Ecological Sciences working on different ecosystems with a focus on biogeochemical cycling of elements.