Keynote speakers

Prof. Ulrich Schurr

University of Dusseldorf, Germany

Dr. Ulrich Schurr is a Professor of Plant Sciences at Forschungszentrum Julich and is Chair of Plant Sciences at the University Of Dusseldorf, Germany. He teaches  Mathematics and Natural Sciences and has expertise in novel processes and innovative experimental approaches, which are also a focus of his research.  His work includes research on physiological concepts of plant environment interaction, quantitative phenotype geometries, and screening of plants for altered physiological and anatomical phenotypes, which are the basis for new uses of plants in a sustainable bio-economy.

From June 2001, Prof. Schurr has been the head of the IBG-2: Plant Sciences Institute at Forschungszentrum Jülich and is a highly cited plant scientist. For more information: Click here

 Talk (Arable Cropping Systems): BreedFACE: dynamic phenotypes of structure and carbon relations in crop varieties at elevated CO₂ in the field.

Prof. Nina Buchmann

ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Dr. Nina Buchmann is a Professor of Grassland Sciences at ETH Zurich. Her main research topics include (1) plant and ecosystem physiology, (2) biogeochemistry of terrestrial ecosystems, i.e., forest, grassland and cropland, particularly the response of soil and ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and water dynamics to climatic conditions and management regimes, and (3) interactions among biodiversity, ecosystem functions/services, and sustainable resource use. She has published more than 260 refereed original journal papers and 28 books and book chapters.

Prof. Buchmann is a member of the National Academy of Sciences in Germany. In 2018 she was elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and identified as “Highly Cited Researcher”. For more information: Click here

Talk (Grassland Systems): Multifunctionality of permanent grasslands

Prof.  M.R. Mosquera-Losada

Univ. Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Dr María Rosa Mosquera-Losada is a distinguished professor of the Crop Production and Project Engineering Department of the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Director of the GI-1648 laboratory. She is an Agro-Silvopastoral Systems expert and an author of over 400 peer reviewed papers, 80 of which are indexed in the JCR (90% of papers in the first decile) and focused on agroforestry.

Prof.  Mosquera-Losadashe is leading the “enabling working group” of the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA) and the Croplands Research Group of the Global Research Alliance (GRA). Currently she is President of EURAF   (European Agroforestry Federation). For more information: Click here

Talk (Agro-Silvo-Pastoral Systems): Agroforestry – European extent, policy and climate change

Dr.Iris Vogeler

Aarhus University, Denmark

Dr. Iris Vogeler is a Senior Scientist in the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, Denmark. Formerly in New Zealand, she was a Team leader at Plant & Food Research, and a Senior Scientist at AgResearch. Her research interest is the interaction between climate, soil, plants, and animals in agro-ecosystems with a focus on integrated analysis and modelling to better understand the relevant processes and feedbacks, including nutrients and greenhouse gases. She has special interest in coupling remote sensing and crop modelling to evaluate and forecast crop growth to improve farm management and policy making towards sustainable production.

Dr. Vogeler is a highly cited researcher and teaches a Master course on ‘Modelling Dairy Systems’ at the University of Kiel, Germany.

 For more information: Click here

Talk (Decision Support Tools):  Coupling Remote Sensing and Crop Modelling for Decision Support Systems: Prospects and Applications

Prof. Franco Miglietta

National Res. Council, IBE-CNR, Italy

Dr. Franco Miglietta is a Professor of Bioeconomy, National Research Council of Italy, IBE-CNR, Italy. His long-term career focused mainly on biogeosciences and, in particular, on the role of agriculture and forestry on the global carbon balance, as well as satellite remote sensing applications. He         developed  innovative approaches in impact studies of the effects of rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and developed the widespread FACE technologies. He participated in  a large number of international collaborative projects. He’s a 2018 Highly-Cited scientist in the Cross-Field domain.  He authored a large number of papers in JCR scientific journals, edited books and  is a highly cited scientist. 

Prof. Miglietta has been the coordinator of 6 major EU-Projects (including one for the ESA-Earth Explorer Programme) from 1987 to present and he participated in 21 EU‐funded projects. For more information: Click here

Talk (Novel Farming Systems): Pale green crops at the crossroads of climate change mitigation and food security

Prof. Shengli Guo

Northwest A & F University, China

Dr. Shengli Guo is Professor of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A & F University and Chinese Academy of Sciences.  His academic career began with a project on the on-site investigation and optimization of fertilization practices in a rainfed farming system on the Loess Plateau. Since then he has been involved in dozens of national and international programmes with research focused on soil C and N dynamics in soils of the Loess Plateau. His research interests are: (i) Soil C and N changes in arable soils of rainfed farming systems; and (ii) Organic C dynamics in eroded soils.

Prof. Guo was a visiting scholar of the UK and an RI Fellow at Rothamsted Research. For more information: Click here

Talk (Carbon Farming and Nature-based Solutions): The Potential of Soil C sequestration through conversion of cropland into grassland and woodland