Adriano Sofo

Adriano Sofo graduated with a Master Degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Bari, Italy, in 1997. He spent three years (1999-2002) at the University of Basilicata, Italy, with a Doctorate in Crop Productivity. From 2000 to 2001, he also was a Researcher at the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Italy. As Postdoctoral Training, in 2002, he worked at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Heraklion, Greece, within a Marie Curie Fellowship. In 2007, he graduated with a second Master Degree in Plant Biotechnology at the University of Basilicata. He then trained as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Basilicata, where he also worked as Assistant Professor in Agricultural Chemistry. In 2015, he was awarded a Fulbright Research Scholar grant to spend at the University of California, Davis. In 2017, he received a fellowship award from the OECD Co-operative Research Programme at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. In 2019, he was a visiting professor at Kindai University, Nara, Japan, within a JSPS Research Scholar Grant. In 2021, he benefited from a DAAD Research Stay at the University of Bremen, Germany. In 2022, he was awarded a Visiting Faculty Program Fellowship at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. In 2023, he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Davis. Since 2022, he has been a member of the EGU’s Biodiversity Task Force. He has been National Geographic Explorer since 2023. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Agricultural Chemistry and Plant Biology at the University of Basilicata. His research fields are: a) physiological and biochemical response of plants to stresses; b) soil chemistry/microbiology and soil sustainable management; c) plant-derived food quality and plant secondary metabolites. He is actively working on the following topics: a) response of plants to abiotic stresses; b) response of plants and fungi to soil pollutants; c) soil quality and fertility in sustainable agro-ecosystems; d) food quality and improvement of plant material. He is the author of over 150 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and books, and coordinator of numerous international and national research projects. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Plant Biology (MDPI) and Section Editor-in-Chief of Plants - Plant-Soil Interactions (MDPI). He is Associate Editor of BMC Plant Biology (BioMed Central), Functional Plant Biology (CSIRO) and Soil Use and Management (Wiley-Blackwell), and member of the Editorial Board of Plant Signaling & Behavior (Taylor & Francis), Sustainability - Section Sustainable Agriculture (MDPI), Soil Systems (MDPI), PeerJ - the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences - Section Plant Biology (PeerJ Inc.), and Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica - Section B, Soil & Plant Science (Taylor & Francis). From 2020 to 2022, he was listed among 2% of the most cited scientists in the world (doi: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.2; doi: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.3, doi: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.4) and among the Top Italian Scientists, macroarea Natural & Environmental Sciences.