Gabriela Briceño has been working on the fate of pesticides on agricultural land and pesticide biodegradation for more than 14 years. In the last year, Gabriela Briceño has gained great expertise in biodegradation by Actinobacteria. Currently, she is a researcher at the Department of Chemical Sciences and Natural Resources and the Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Research Applied to the Environment (CIBAMA) of the University of La Frontera, Chile. Dr. Briceño has been responsible for research on three FONDECYT projects related to Actinobacteria consortium formation, the treatment of wastewater containing organophosphorus pesticide, and the effect of pesticides on soil and bioremediation.

M. Cristina Diez is a chemist and Doctor in food science. She has conducted research in environmental biotechnology focused on biological wastewater treatments such as biopurification systems for pesticide degradation. Another line of her research is waste management. She is a full Professor at the University of La Frontera, Director of the Excellence Center CIBAMA-BIOREN, and a member of the Biological Sciences Area Committee of the National Accreditation Commission (CNA). She was a member of the Higher Council for Technological Development of FONDECYT.

Graciela Palma is a Doctor in Sciences, specializing in Chemistry, attached to the Department of Chemical Sciences and Natural Resources and the CIBAMA Center of the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences of the Universidad de La Frontera. Her line of research is focused on agrochemistry, addressing issues related to the use of pesticides from a chemical-biological perspective in agricultural systems and their effect on natural resources. This line of research is focused on the effect of the application of pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers on crops; the preparation and evaluation of controlled-release formulations; and studies of the factors that define the dynamics of pesticides in the environment. She has directed and collaborated in several FONDECYT, DIUFRO, FONDEF, and CONICYT projects. She carries out teaching activities in undergraduate and graduate programs directing internships, theses, and teaching.

Milko Jorquera graduated from Osaka University of Japan with a focus on microbial ecology and environmental microbiology. Currently, Jorquera acts as head of the Applied Microbial Ecology Laboratory (EMALAB) at Universidad de La Frontera. The mission of EMALAB is to contribute to our knowledge of the abundance, composition, and role of bacterial communities present in the agricultural and extreme ecosystems of Chile. The studies carried out at the EMAlab are characterized by using a wide variety of molecular techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), quantitative PCR (qPCR), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR), and, recently, high throughput sequencing (454-Roche and Illumina platforms). The investigations conducted at the EMALAB are also characterized by an active collaboration with microbiologists from Japan, the USA, Austria, China, Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada, and New Zealand. Milko Jorquera has also acquired academic experience as responsible for courses (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Environmental and Applied Microbiology, and Innovation) as well as training and supervision of undergraduate and post-graduate students.

Dr. Heidi Schalchli is Agronomist and researcher at the Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Research Applied to the Environment (CIBAMA) of the University of La Frontera, Chile. She received her PhD in Natural Resource Sciences from the University of La Frontera in 2012.  She served as a Scientific Advisor of the Organizing Committee at the VII Internacional Symposium on Agricultural and Agroindustrial Waste Management in 2021. Her research interests mainly include microbiology, waste valorization and pesticides.

Juliana Maria Saez is currently working as a Researcher at the PROIMI Biotechnology, Laboratory of Biotechnology of Actinobacteria. Her research interests are related to the biodegradation of organic pesticides by actinobacteria. Currently, the focus of her research work is on developing a sustainable purification system with economic materials able to retain and degrade used pesticides (CUPs), mainly for agricultural purposes.

Claudia Susana Benimeli is an Independent Researcher from CONICET and a professor of Environmental Chemistry at Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Her research is focused mainly on the study of bioremediation strategies for contaminated matrices (liquid effluents, sludge, and soils) by using autochthonous actinobacteria. Claudia Benimeli works spatially with pesticides and heavy metals.