Our keynote speakers shared the latest advances in plant physiology, greenhouse gas research, and climate-smart agriculture, offering valuable insights from leading experts in the field.
Department of Soil and Crop Science, Colorado State University
M. Francesca Cotrufo is a Professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. She earned her B.Sc. from the University of Naples in Italy and her Ph.D. from Lancaster University in the UK. Prior to joining CSU in 2008, she was a professor at the University of Campania in Italy. Dr. Cotrufo is a soil ecologist and biogeochemist, internationally recognized for her work in the field of litter decomposition and soil organic matter dynamics, as well as for her use of isotopic methodologies in these studies.
Australian National University
Prof. Danielle (Dani) Way is a world leader on the impact of rising temperatures and CO2 concentrations on plants, with a focus on photosynthesis, respiration, water fluxes and plant growth. She did her PhD at the University of Toronto (2008) and a post-doc at Duke University (2008-2012) before leading labs at the University of Western Ontario in Canada (2012-2022) and the Australian National University (ANU, 2022-current). Dani is also Director of The Australian Plant Phenomics Network at ANU where she leads a team of plant biologists and computer scientists to provide high throughput phenotyping capabilities to researchers.
Arca Climate Technologies Inc
Bethany Ladd is an accomplished researcher, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Arca Climate Technologies. Arca is a leading carbon dioxide removal company that develops innovative technology to turn CO2 into rock at scale. As Head of Operations at Arca, Bethany draws upon her scientific background and expertise in applied research management to lead deployment, laboratory, and company operations. Her passion for making a difference in the world led her to co-found Arca, a University of British Columbia spinout that has garnered international recognition, including an XPRIZE milestone award for carbon dioxide removal.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
Dr. Zhaohui Aleck Wang is an Associate Scientist with Tenure in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). He is a marine chemist with expertise in seawater carbonate chemistry, in situ sensor technologies, marine CO2 removal (mCDR), coastal carbon cycling, ocean acidification (OA), and carbon fluxes in tidal wetlands.
Wild Bioscience
Dr. Cristina Sales is a plant scientist with a career dedicated to photosynthesis research in key agricultural crops. She has extensive experience in plant phenotyping using infrared gas analyzers. In June 2024, Cris joined Wild Bioscience, where she applies her expertise in plant phenotyping to contribute to the company’s mission of designing crops that accelerate agriculture towards climate resilience.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Dr. David Schimel is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and Technical Group Supervisor for the Carbon and Ecosystems group. He serves as the Mission Scientist for NASA's planned Surface Biology and Geology mission. His career has focused on the large-scale impacts of land management and climate change on ecosystem processes and on the role of the global carbon cycle in the climate system. His expertise includes managing large, complex research projects, remote sensing, data management, modeling, and the application of ecological research to science policy development. He is expert in optical remote sensing, with experience in NASA's MODIS instrument, imaging spectroscopy and thermal imagining as well as with spaceborne and airborne lidar. He is experienced in data assimilation and the application of advanced data science to complex earth science problems. Dave served as CEO of NEON from 2006 to 2011, overseeing NEON's design and development phase to successful completion. He also served as a Senior Scientist in NCAR's Climate and Global Dynamics Division for 20 years and as Founding Director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany. Dave is one of the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 2007 on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, and is a Fellow of the AGU, the Ecological Society of America and the Ecology Institute of Germany. He has authored more than 200 papers on biogeochemistry, climate impacts on ecosystems, and the global carbon cycle. He was Editor in Chief of Ecological Applications for the Ecological Society of America and is currently on the editorial board for AGU Advances. Dave earned a BA from Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts (1977), and a PhD from Colorado State University (1982).
Vital Agronomics, LLC
