Dr. Luca Montanarella

european commission - joint research centre, italy

Dr. Montanarella has been working as scientific officer in the European Commission since 1992. He has been leading the Soil Data and Information Systems (SOIL Action) activities of the Joint Research Centre in support to the EU Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection and numerous other soil related policies, like the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the UNCCD, UNFCCC, CBD, among others. Dr. Montanarella is responsible for the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), the European Soil Information System (EUSIS) and the European Soil Bureau Network (ESBN). More recently he is in charge of supporting the establishment of the Global Soil Partnership at FAO. He is currently the Chair of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) of the GSP and the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment (LDRA). Dr. Montanarella has more than 300 publications, books and reports, and has received numerous awards and memberships.