Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso: Prof. Cardoso holds a PhD degree in plant pathology from the Ohio State University (USA) and a post doc from Göttingen University (Germany). She is currently full professor of soil microbiology and biotechnology in the Department of Soil Science at University of São Paulo (Brazil) where she has been working since 1971 and has supervised more than 100 post-graduate and post-doctoral students. Her research interests are focused on ecology and agricultural sustainability, forestry, plant growth promoting microorganisms, plant microbiomes, organic residues in agriculture and forestry, and soil remediation. She has published more than 130 scientific articles in international journal, about 20 books and book chapters, many in cooperation with colleagues from other countries.José Leonardo de Moraes Gonçalves: Full Professor at the Department of Forest Sciences at the University of São Paulo. He has undertaken extensive research on soil fertility, site preparation, and plant nutrition, focusing on the tropical and subtropical eucalypt and pine plantations, including genotypic adaptation and phenotypic acclimatization of plantations in regions with high water, thermal and nutritional stresses. Ecosystem management and sustained production of wood and non-wood products from planted forests always were among his main objectives, having been a pioneer in forest research with minimum tilling in the early nineties. He has edited three books and published more than one hundred scientific articles in journals of wide dissemination and international impact. He supervised 25 masters, 24 doctors and 5 post-doctorates.Fabiano de Carvalho Balieiro: Dr. Balieiro holds a PhD in soil science from Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) where he also was a post doc fellow. He currently works as a researcher at the National Center forSoil Research at Embrapa Solos (Brazil) and his research is focused on nutrient cycling, soil organic matter dynamics and soil ecology in different crop systems (eucalyptus, mixed forest plantations and sugar cane) and native vegetation (Amazon and Atlantic Forests and Cerrado biomes). Dr. Balieiro has published 27 articles in high impact factor journals over the past 5 years and edited the book “Manual of Fertilization and Liming for the State Rio de Janeiro” (in Portuguese), a publication on the sustainable agricultural development in Rio de Janeiro State (Brazil).Avílio Antônio Franco: Dr. Franco is a graduated Agricultural Engineer from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (UFRRJ), and he obtained a MSc. in Microbiology from the University of New South Wales (Australia), a PhD in Soil Science from the University of California-Davis (USA) and a post doc from the University of Queensland (Australia). Retired scientist from the Center for Agrobiology at Embrapa (Brazil) after 40 years of activity. Supervised 33 graduate students at URRJ and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and published 92 scientific articles and 25 books and book chapters. His research interests are soil microbiology (Biological Nitrogen Fixation), plant nutrition, land reclamation and agroforestry. He is an Effective Member of the Brazilian Academy of Science (ABC) and The Third World Academy of Science (TWAS). Received the Brazilian National Scientific Award.
