First Round of Abstract Submission Ends: Dec 31, 2026
Extended Early Bird Ends: Aug 28, 2026
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Katarzyna Turnau
Jagiellonian University, Poland
Title: Beyond the Root: Viewing Medicinal Plant Microgreens as Holobionts
Professor Katarzyna Turnau is a mycologist and Professor at the Jagiellonian University, Poland, specializing in plant–microbe interactions, mycorrhizal symbiosis, fungal biotechnology, and ecological restoration. Her research focuses on the role of beneficial fungi in improving plant nutrition, stress tolerance, and phytoremediation, with particular interest in medicinal plants and microgreens. She has led numerous national and international research projects, including collaborations supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and other international research programmes. In recent years, her work has expanded toward sustainable biotechnologies, integrating fungal-based solutions for agriculture, soil restoration, and circular bioeconomy. She is also the scientific founder of Myco Renew, a biotechnology startup developing fungal technologies for textile bio recycling. Professor Turnau has authored over 150 scientific publications and continues to bridge fundamental research with practical applications in sustainable plant production and environmental biotechnology.
Prof. Fulai Liu
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Title: Root and shoot coordination of crop plants in response to abiotic stresses
Fulai Liu is a full Professor in Crop Stress Physiology at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He received BSc in Agronomy from China Agricultural University in 1992, MSc in Horticulture from University of Hannover in 2000, and PhD in Crop Physiology from Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen in 2004. His research concerns the regulation of growth and functioning of crop plants subjected to environmental perturbations particularly drought stress. He has significantly contributed to explore the role of abscisic acid in crop response to abiotic stresses. For the first time in literature, he reported a transgenerational effect of elevated CO2 concentration on drought adaptation and grain quality in wheat. Besides, he elucidated the roles of stress priming and cross stress tolerance in barley and wheat plants. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers, 3 books and 12 book chapters, and > 80 conference papers. His publications have been cited > 21000 times with an h-index of 79. He is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science and an associate editor for Frontiers in Plant Science. He has supervised 24 MSc students, 48 PhD students, and 8 postdocs.
Prof. Eugenia J. Olguín
Institute of Ecology, México
Title: FLOATING WETLANDS FOR MICROPLASTICS AND MICROCYSTINS REMOVAL OPERATING IN URBAN PONDS
Emeritus Prof. Eugenia J. Olguín received her PhD in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham in the UK (1978). She has been working for 46 years in the development and evaluation of bioprocesses for the sustainable use of water with emphasis in the fields of phycoremediation and phytoremediation. Prof. Olguín was awarded as “Emeritus Professor” by the Institute of Ecology (2022), where she has been working for the last 37 years. She is member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and has been distinguished as member of the National Research System since 1989. Prof. Olguín received the National Award ‘María Lavalle Urbina’ in Environment and Sustainable Development in 1999. She was awarded with the “Veracruz State Prize in Science and Technology” in the field of Technology, Development and Innovation” (2019). Her name was included among the 2% most cited researchers based on her Scopus profile (Loannidis et al., Plos Biology, 2020). She was awarded the “Innovation Award” by the “World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations” (WAITRO) in 2020. The International Society of Applied Phycology (ISAP) awarded her as “Distinguished Applied Phycologist” (2021). She is currently the President of the International Society of Environmental Biotechnology, ISEB. She is the founding President of the Latin American Society of Environmental and Algal Biotechnology (SOLABIAA) (2008-2011) and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal of this Society (RELBAA, Revista Latinoamericana de Biotecnología Ambiental y Algal).
Prof. Dulcie A Mulholland
University of Surrey, UK
Title: Novel bioactive compounds from the Hyacinthaceae family for the potential treatment of macular degeneration
Will update soon.
Dr. Chien-Yu HUANG
Louisiana State University - AgCenter, USA
Title: To be confirmed.
Will update soon.
Prof. Ana María Heilman
North Dakota State University, USA
Title: To be confirmed.
Will update soon.
Prof. Boulos Chalhoub
Agroscope, Switzerland
Title: To be confirmed.
Will update soon.
Prof. Shimon Rachmilevitch
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Title: To be confirmed.
Will update soon.
Prof. Jill Farrant
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Title: To be confirmed.
Jill Farrant is a full Professor and holds a South African Research Chair in “Systems Biology Studies on Plant Desiccation Tolerance for Food Security” in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is an acknowledged world leader in the field of plant desiccation tolerance (holding a rarely given A rated status by the South African National Research Foundation), working on both seeds and plants displaying vegetative desiccation tolerance (Resurrection plants). Her research is multidisciplinary, utilising techniques involved molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and physiology to understand protection mechanisms, and regulation thereof, associated with desiccation tolerance, and biotechnological tools to make informed genetic alteration(s) for the production of extremely drought tolerant crops. Recently she is investigating the role or root associated microbes of resurrection plants for the formulation of biostimulants that promote crop health and tolerance of drought.
Jill Farrant has received considerable recognition for her research, having achieved 13 national and international awards, and her work has been the subject of several documentaries, details of which can be found on her website http://www.mcb.uct.ac.za/mcb/people/staff/academic/farrant. She has 172 peer reviewed publications, 17 book chapters, over 200 conference proceedings, and has graduated 39 MSc students and 27 PhD students during the 32 years she has been an academic. She is a Fellow of 5 prestigious societies and acts in Editorial capacity for 3 International Journals. Passionate about upliftment of women and disadvantaged scholars, she sits on numerous award committees.
Dr. Audrey Le Veve
University of Perpignan, France
Title: DNA methylation: a way for fast adaptation in clonal species? An example with the plant species Fragaria vesca and adaptation to altitude
Audrey Le Veve is an evolutionary biologist whose research focuses on genetics and epigenetics evolution depending on the system of reproduction. Usually, she tries to answer to these two general questions: What are the effect of different mating system on epigenome and genome? and What are the effect of these genomes and epigenomes evolution on populations and on maintenant of mating system? She worked on plant system with or without selfing and clonal reproduction, and on hermaphrodite aquatic snails. Her work explores genetic load, inbreeding depression, mating system evolution, and the interplay between genetic and epigenetic processes. She combines theoretical approaches, genomic analyses, and evolutionary modelling to better understand how mating system shape population diversity. She is also actively involved in higher education and the development of innovative teaching activities.
