Ms. Lucia Piana is a PhD student in the Earth, Life, and Environmental program at the BiGeA-Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna. She received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences at the University of Catania in 2020. Her areas of scientific interest are citizen science and environmental education; climate change and its effects; the monitoring and conservation of biodiversity; and ecology, zoology, and marine biology.
Sami Ullah Bhat is currently working as the Senior Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Kashmir, India. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kashmir. His specialization focuses on Ecology and Environment: Limnology, Stream ecology, Wetland ecology, and Spring ecology (Crenobiology). He is actively involved in teaching various courses, especially aquatic science and pollution, in addition to doing research in inland waters (lakes, wetlands, streams, rivers, springs, reservoirs, waste water, etc.).
Jordi Corbera is a scientific illustrator and independent naturalist at Institució Catalana d’Història Natural. He has worked since 1979 as an independent scientific illustrator. As a naturalist, he has dedicated his efforts to studying the ecology and taxonomy of a little-known group of marine crustaceans (order Cumacea), of which he has described numerous genera and species. He is currently collaborating with other ICHN members on a study of bryophyte communities and he is also involved in the Catalan Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, where he is responsible for two of the monitoring stations.
Roderick J. Fensham obtained his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Tasmania in 1991. He is a Professor at The University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences, Australia. In 2010, he was working with co-workers on editing Ludwig Leichhardt's diaries, woody vegetation dynamics, artesian desert springs, grazing dynamics in the arid zone, the role of fire in savannas, and establishing a large project to facilitate ecosystem restoration within an emerging carbon economy. His research themes are artesian springs, woody vegetation dynamics, arid-zone grazing and integrating the carbon economy into conservation.
Dr. Marcos Fernández-Martínez is an academic researcher at the Ecological and Forestry Applications Research Centre (CREAF), Bellaterra in Catalonia, Spain and member of the Delegació de la Serralada Litoral of the Institució Catalana d'Història Natural. His skills and expertise include spring ecosystems, elemental ecology, macroecology, plant ecology, ecology, climate change, global studies and environment.
Verónica Ferreira received her Ph.D. degree in Biology from the University of Coimbra. Between 2007 and 2012, she carried out research at IMAR (University of Coimbra, Portugal), at EcoLab (CNRS, Toulouse, France), and at the Benthos Ecology Laboratory (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil) to evaluate the effects of global change factors on stream communities and processes. Between 2012 and 2015, she carried out research at IMAR (University of Coimbra, Portugal) and at the School of Biological Sciences (Royal Holloway University of London, England) to assess the effects of anthropogenic activities on stream functioning by means of meta-analysis. Since May 2015, V Ferreira has been an Auxiliary Researcher at the University of Coimbra (MARE). She uses laboratory microcosms, indoor mesocosms, field correlative studies (at local, regional, and global scales), field manipulative studies (including manipulations at the whole-stream level), and systematic reviews to address ecological questions on stream ecology. Nutrient enrichment, warming, forest change, and functional bioindicators are recurrent topics in her research.
Dr. Maria Filippini is an academic researcher at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences BiGeA, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy. Her research interests include hydrogeology, spring discharge, groundwater contamination, compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA), water isotopes, DNAPL, aquifer recharge, aquitard integrity and phytoscreening.
Prof. Dr. Alessandro Gargini has been a full professor of Applied Geology at the University of Bologna since 2011. His main field of research is applied hydrogeology and contaminant hydrogeology. The main targets of research are the characterization, risk assessment, and modelling of contaminated aquifers, the evaluation of anthropic impacts on groundwater resources and groundwater dependent ecosystems and hydrogeological parameterization, and the modelling of groundwater flow systems in fractured aquifer of Northern Apennines. He is involved in many EU-funded and national research projects and also in third-mission activities related to industrial research development and scientific support to forensic investigations on environmental crimes. Since 2012, he has become a member of the National Italian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists.
Stephen D. Hopper received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Western Australia in 1978. He has been the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (2006–2012), Director of Kings Park and Botanic Garden (1992–2004), and involved in flora conservation research and academic teaching in conservation biology at UWA. Since 2012, he has been a Professor of Biodiversity at The University of Western Australia. He focuses on the ecological, evolutionary, conservation, and sustainability aspects of biodiversity on old, climatically buffered infertile landscapes (Ocbils), with a special focus on plants of granite rock outcrops, and the Haemodoraceae, eucalypts, and orchids.
Prof. Dr. Josep Peñuelas is a full professor at the CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra in Barcelona, Spain. His skills and expertise include soil, remote sensing, ecology, Environment, plant ecology, biodiversity, biochemistry, plant physiology, climate change and ecosystem ecology.
Dr. Catherine Preece is a plant and soil ecologist at the Sustainability in Biosystems Program, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Caldes de Montbui in Catalonia, Spain. Her research is
focused on the linkages between plant and soil ecology, particularly in response to global change. She studies plant–soil interactions in both natural and agricultural systems, and in a range of biomes. She also collaborates on a research line about bryophyte ecology and physiology.
Vincent H. Resh is a Professor of Entomology at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Louisville in 1973. He was the director of the Richard B. Gump South Pacific
Biological Research Station at Mo'orea from 1996 to 2001. From 2007 to 2008 he was the chair of the Division of Organisms and the Environment within Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science. He was elected as a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in 1995, and the University of Lyon gave him an honorary doctorate in 2009. In 2017, he was one of the inaugural fellows of the Society for Freshwater Science. His research is primarily focused on the evolutionary biology and ecology of aquatic insects and invertebrates like insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.
Dr. Estela Romero is an ecologist with a broad interest in the impact of human activities on organisms and processes in aquatic environments. She holds a degree in Environmental Sciences and a PhD in Marine Ecology. She has worked in research institutions in Spain, the UK, and France. The global dimension of biogeochemical cycles and their unique role in linking land and marine systems has become the main focus of her current research work. In particular, she is interested in addressing how global water challenges and food security will affect the biogeochemical flows of nitrogen and phosphorus along the aquatic continuum and how this may impact marine and freshwater communities.
Prof. Boudjéma Samraoui is a full professor at the Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides, Biology Department, University of Annaba in Algeria. His skills and expertise include conservation biology, ecology, species diversity, conservation, biodiversity, biodiversity monitoring, animal ecology,
ecology and evolution, evolution and invasive species.
Farrah Samraoui received her Ph.D. degree from Université H. Boumedienne in 2009. She is a Professor at the University of Guelma, Department of Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth and the Universe. She has been the President of the CSD since
2020. Her research program involves topics within the broadly defined area of biodiversity study. She is particularly interested in (1) the changes in the diversity and movement patterns of birds, (2) ecosystems' response to change with a particular focus on wetland aquatic systems, (3) environmental monitoring,
(4) water resources management, and (5) wildlife ecology and management.
Stefano Segadelli received his Ph.D. Degree in Earth Sciences at the University of Parma. He currently works as a geologist at the Geological Service of the Emilia-Romagna Region where he focuses on natural resources in the Apennines of Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy). His passion for nature and geology led him to obtain the qualification of Environmental Hiking Guide and to bring to people’s attention the theme of the valorization of the environmental heritage with particular attention to the geological heritage. His current research topics are geodiversity, groundwater dependent ecosystems, geological and geomorphological mapping, and the analysis of sediment cores collected from Holocene continental geological archives for paleoclimate reconstruction.
Nikolaos Th. Skoulikidis received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biogeochemistry, Institute of Geology & Palaeontology, University of Hamburg (1983–1989). He has been working as a researcher at HCMR
since 1994 and since 2008 as a research director. He was acting as the head of the Department “Environmental Research” of the Institute of Inland Waters (1998–2004). Since 2008, he has been the head of the Research Direction “Integrated River Basin Management”, Institute of Inland Waters and later the Department of Inland Waters, Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, and has acted since 2012 as the coordinator of this department. His research interests include ecological status assessments of aquatic ecosystems, land–water–atmosphere interactions, biogeochemical processes, functional ecosystem approaches, ecosystem conservation, and integrated river basin management.
He has received two awards: LIFE “ENVIFRIENDLY”, one of the top five ‘Best of the Best’ LIFE Environment Projects in 2009, and the ECOCITY 2011 award for “Scientific Research”.
Prof. Dr. Cüneyt N. Solak is a scientist at the Department of Biology, Science and Art Faculty, Kütahya Dumlupınar University in Kütahya, Türkiye. He is interested in the diversity and distribution of diatoms in Türkiye and is currently working on the taxonomy and systematics of the endemic freshwater diatom flora of Anatolia. Also, he works in some national monitoring programs as a phytobenthos expert in Türkiye.
Karen G. Villholth is Director of Water Cycle Innovation, a leading-edge consultancy in water resources management. She holds a PhD in Groundwater Resources Assessment and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and an MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington. She previously worked for the International Water Management Institute, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, and DHI-Water and Environment. She has more than 25 years of experience in groundwater resources assessment and management. She deals with research, policy advice, and capacity development related to groundwater irrigation for smallholders, transboundary aquifers, integrated water resources assessment and modelling, climate change and adaptation through
groundwater-friendly solutions, the role of depleting aquifers in global food production, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and groundwater management and governance for institutions at various levels, from local to transboundary to global. She was the Chair of GRIPP, Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice, a global coordinating initiative for groundwater for human development and achieving the Sustainable Development goals (SDGs). She has been providing services to a host of international organizations on groundwater and integrated water management, including UNESCO, World Bank, FAO, UN-Water, UNECE, UNEP, Sustainable Water Future Program, IWRA, IAH, and others.
PD Prof. Marco Cantonati, environmental botanist and inland-waters’ ecologist, specialized in the taxonomy and ecology of benthic algae (focus on diatoms and cyanoprokaryotes), with M.Scs in Biology and Natural Sciences (Univ. Pavia) and PhD in ecology of inland waters (Univ. Innsbruck). Formerly a MUSE Section Head (Limnology/Phycology), since 2022, he has been a professor of systematic botany at the University of Bologna and an associate Researcher at Drexel University (PA, USA). He has 130 articles in ISI journals. He has described genera and species of algae and cyanobacteria new to science; he is the author of one of the most widely used diatom identification texts internationally. Central European Venia docendi (PD Prof) in Limnology (Univ. Innsbruck), ASN (Botany, Ecology), Prof 'Biol. Photoautotrophic Org.’ Univ Trento 2014. He has worked on over 30 projects, contracts, and consultancies. He is an Assoc Ed/EBM of 3 international journals (including Wetlands), a reviewer for 99 journals, and a guest editor of 9 special volumes for 7 journals (including STOTEN and ECOLIND).
Dr. Lawrence E. Stevens is an academic researcher at the Springs Stewardship Institute in Flagstaff,
Arizona, USA. His skills and expertise include biodiversity, conservation, conservation biology, evolution, species diversity, wildlife conservation, ecology, climate change, wildlife ecology, and ecology and evolution.
