Save the Date for the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from April 12-15 2026!

Call for Symposia Proposals

The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and the Local Organizing Committee of the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference invites the submission of symposia proposals. This conference will bring together leading experts, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from around the world to explore the critical role of soil biodiversity in sustaining ecosystem functions, human health, and environmental sustainability.

Symposia Proposal Guidelines:

The goal of these symposia is to provide a forum for focused discussions on new and emerging topics or innovative applications of established approaches and projects.  A symposium may revolve around a specific theme, or it may showcase the work done by working groups or international consortia.  Symposia proposals should offer a focused, organized series of presentations that foster knowledge exchange and debate on a specific aspect of soil biodiversity. Proposals should strive to reflect diversity in terms of country of origin, career stage, and gender, in line with our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity. It is strongly encouraged that symposium chairs and speakers come from diverse regions and perspectives, including basic research, applied science, policy, and community-based practices.

The deadline for submission of the proposals for symposia is February 28th, 2025.  Proposals must be submitted using GSB2026 template.  Please complete all details and send the proposal to info@globalsoilbiodiversity.org.  Applications will be selected by the Scientific Committee and applicants will be informed about the acceptance or rejection of their proposal in May 2025.  Please note that proposals that are of interest for a larger audience and that have not been selected for a symposium, may be merged into the scientific program as a topic of a regular session.

All proposals must be received by February 28th, 2025

Symposia speakers and chairs:

The duration of each symposium is either 120 min (7 available symposia) or 90 min (6 available symposia) and should consist of 3-6 speakers with time for discussion. The durations of these sessions may be subjected to slight changes as the final program is finalized. The symposia are led by a chair and a co-chair, and both, alongside all symposia participants, must be registered conference participants.  Please note that symposium chairs do not necessarily have to serve as speakers. 

Upon acceptance of the symposium, the chair is responsible for ensuring symposia speakers have submitted an abstract of their presentation using the abstract submission portal and register to the conference.  Speakers of the proposals that have not been selected for a symposium are encouraged to submit an abstract for the regular scientific program.

Announcing the keynote speakers for the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference

Dr. César Marín

In 2022, he became a Full Professor at the Universidad Santo Tomás (Chile) and a Guest Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Mycorrhizal Society Newsletter since its creation (2020), and Editor in other four scientific journals (Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, Fungal Ecology, IMA Fungus, and Plants, People, Planet). He is the founder and coordinator of the South American Mycorrhizal Research Network, which has more than 450 members from 50 countries; he is an Associate Scientist of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), a member of the Board of Directors of the International Mycorrhizal Society, and a founding member of the Global Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (SoilBON). He holds a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from the Universidad Austral de Chile (2018) and a Diploma in Philosophy of Biology. Since 2014, he has published more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

In 2019, he was awarded Afro-Colombian of the Year, Academy category, by the newspaper El Espectador and Color de Colombia Foundation. In 2021 he received the Humberto Maturana Award from the Chilean Biology Society, in 2022 the “Somos Micelio” Award from FungiFest – Valdivia Mushroom Festival, and in 2024 the Carlos Luis Spegazzini Medal, in Maastricht, Netherlands, from the International Mycological Association.

Dr. Janet K. Jansson

Janet Jansson is an Emeritus Chief Scientist and Laboratory Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where she served from 2014-2021. Previously, she was Professor and Vice Dean at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (2003-2007), Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2007-2014) and Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley and University of Copenhagen (2012-2014). Her research focuses on the impacts of perturbations, such as oil spills and climate change, on environmental microbiomes. Jansson also pioneered use of molecular microbial ecology to study the human microbiome. She made considerable advances in understanding the impact of climate change on permafrost and grassland soil microbiomes and viruses. In addition, she recently led the first study of soil microbiomes in space that was funded by NASA. Jansson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Washington State Academy of Science and AAAS. She has >250 publications (H-Index 92) and is one of the most highly cited researchers in the world. She is a Past President of ISME and has served on numerous advisory panels, including the White House’s Microbiome Initiative, the National Academies of Sciences, the U.S. National Committee for Soil Science and NASA. She is currently leading an elite group of scientific experts called ‘The Soil Stars’ that use microbial strategies to help mitigate climate change and chairs the Scientific Advisory Board for Oath Inc., a company that combines microbial inoculants and carbon sensors for soil carbon enrichment and measurement.

Dr. Maria J.I. Briones

Maria J.I. Briones is currently a professor at the University of Vigo and is a member of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI), the Global Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (Soil BON) and the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB). As a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Soil Biodiversity Assessment (GSBA), she has been involved in the production of the first-ever Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas, mapping soil biodiversity for the entire planet. This unique Atlas has provided a long-needed detailed analysis of soil organisms together with the threats to soil biodiversity at global scale. In addition, she has a very long ongoing (minimum from 3-4 months a year since 1993) highly productive collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), contributing to various research projects on the effects of Climate Change on Terrestrial Ecosystems, including her pioneering work in the use of stable isotopes to trace labile C and N in soil food webs. As a result of these pivotal research developments, her collaborations with the UKCEH resulted in her recognition in 2002 as a “CEH Fellow", and since then she is an honorary member of this Centre of Excellence. Her research experience of more than 25 years has greatly contributed to enhance our understanding of the effects of global changes on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, with an early recognition of the importance of soils in the global climate system. Specifically, she has been involved in the quantification of carbon dynamics in organic soils by trying to decipher how changes in climatic conditions could affect plant-soil-organism interactions, CO2 and CH4 emissions and nutrient losses into the soil solution.