Advisory Board and Editors Agroecology
Diaa Abd El-Moneim
My academic journey began with an MSc in Plant Breeding and Genetics at Suez Canal University, where my research focused on evaluating drought tolerance and disease resistance in wheat, providing a solid foundation in abiotic stress tolerance. This early work fueled my commitment to understanding and addressing plant resilience under stress conditions. Thanks to an Erasmus Mundus scholarship, I pursued my PhD at Complutense University of Madrid, where I investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying aluminum stress tolerance in rye. Notably, I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship funded by AECID just before defending my thesis—a pivotal achievement that underscored the relevance of my research. This fellowship enabled me to join the National Center of Biotechnology (CNB) in Madrid. I gained expertise in proteomics, gene expression analysis, and molecular tool development to improve plant abiotic stress resilience. These experiences greatly expanded my knowledge of gene regulation and stress physiology and led to high-impact publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Abd El Moneim’s research encompasses multiple domains, including the study of morphological , physiological, and molecular mechanisms that govern plant responses to stress factors such as salinity, drought , aluminum toxicity, heat, and pathogens. His work in identifying gene families and stress-responsive proteins is complemented by his efforts to apply DNA barcoding and chloroplast genomic assemblies for species identification and development of molecular markers, as well as contributing to taxonomical and evolutionary concepts and identifying transcriptional regulators critical for stress adaptation, with particular emphasis on crops like wheat and wild plants adapted to extreme environments. His methodologies include designing and analyzing field trials , protein analysis, nucleic acid extraction, fingerprinting , GWAS , and the characterization of chloroplast genomes. Dr. Abd El Moneim’s expertise in molecular breeding and genomics focuses on improving abiotic stress tolerance in staple crops, especially for agriculture in developing countries.
Viktor V. Brygadyrenko
Dr. Viktor Brygadyrenko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology and Ecology at Oles Honchar Dnipro National University.
His main scientific projects include:
- Effect of heavy metal ions on the development of invertebrates.
- Morphological variability in populations of beetles in conditions of anthropogenically altered ecosystems.
- Trophic relations of species in litter macrofauna of Ukraine.
- Structure of litter macrofauna communities in forest ecosystems of Ukraine.
- Influence of medicinal plants, flavourings and source materials, approved for use in and on foods, on eggs and larvae of nematodes of mammals.
- Ecological niches of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in Ukraine.
- Morphometric variation in ground beetles.
Falk Huettmann
Falk grew up in Germany, got a M.Sc. in Forestry from Universities, Goettingen, Freiburg and Munich with a thesis at NISK/Norway on digital image processing of trees affected by acid rain. He then worked at the EU with a Robert Schuman Scholarship of the European Parliament in Luxemburg, and with a NGO in Bruxelles. In 2001 he got a PhD from the ACWERN at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Eastern Canada on pelagic seabirds, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and data. His postdoc was with the Center of Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver about Marbled Murrelets. He then got a Killam Scholarship with the University of Calgary working on Grizzly Bear habitat future models in the Rocky Mountains.
In 2002 he became a Professor of Wildlife Ecology in his EWHALE lab with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Falk works with his students world-wide on landscapes, oceans and the atmosphere focusing on the conservation of biodiversity and habitats. He has over 350 publications, including 9 books and many Open Access datasets and metadata on over 2000 species
Anja Linstädter
Anja Linstädter is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cologne and head of the Range Ecology and Management Group. Her research focuses on global change impacts on managed terrestrial ecosystems. She is particularly interested in the interactive effects of global change agents - such as grazing and drought - on the functioning of African drylands, and in consequences for ecosystem service delivery. Ultimately, her research aims at designing ecosystem-based management strategies.