Bio
Cristina Abbate, PhD in Food Biotechnology (2001), is Associate Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Catania since January 2022. Her academic career began in 1998 during her doctoral studies, and since 2005 she has taught numerous courses in agricultural, environmental and soil chemistry, including Soil Biochemistry, Environmental Impact of Agrochemicals, Sustainability of Soil Systems, and Management of Soil Organic Matter (in English). Her research focuses on ecotoxicology and environmental chemistry, with particular attention in recent years to the biodegradation of agrochemicals, the impact of pesticides on soil microflora, biodegradable mulching materials, and mycorrhizal quantification in soils. She has contributed to international standardization activities as an Italian expert appointed by UNI within ISO working groups on biological methods for soil quality assessment. Since 2006, she has participated in and coordinated several research projects. Professor Abbate has also served as evaluator for numerous national and international research funding programs, including FP7, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe WIDERA, Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND programs, and research councils in Poland, Spain, and Latvia. In 2019, she was selected as expert member of the FAO Working Group on Soil Biodiversity Assessment. She has published around 100 scientific contributions, including 39 papers in indexed journals, with over 1.761 citations and an h-index of 18.

Talk
Frass and Furious: Valorizing Frass From the Yellow Mealworm

Bio
Christos Athanassiou serves since 2010 as a Professor of Entomology at the University of Thessaly, Greece. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1999, he has worked in different research institutes in US and Europe. His research is focused on insect biology and detection, and implementation strategies of chemical and non-chemical control in pest management programs for field, stored-product protection, forest pests, but also on edible insects. Prof. Athanassiou has published over 500 scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals, with more than 500 conference presentations, along with 2 books and 14 book chapters. He has participated in the development of several products that are now commercially available. He has received multiple awards from different organizations (OECD, Fulbright etc.), and has served in different international organizations (FAO, European Bank for Research and Development, EISMEA etc.). He is a coordinator, PI/coPi is >120 resarch projects funded by different sources (Horizon Europe, PRIMA, LIFE, USDA, NIFA etc.).

Talk
Allelopathy: A Novel Tool for Sustainable Weed Management

Bio
Aurelio Scavo, Ph.D in Agricultural, Food and Enviromental Science in 2019 at the University of Catania, is a researcher in Agronomy and Crop Science and teacher of “Field crops” and “Forage systems” at the Department of Veterinary Sciences from the University of Messina. He has been involved in several national and international research projects related to cover cropping, weed management, allelopathy, agronomical and technical practices for improving crop productivity in the Mediterranean area. He is winner of prestigious awards and recognitions. He presented scientific oral communications in several national and international scientific conferences, also under invitation. He is Associate Editor for the scientific journal Frontiers in Agronomy, sections Weed management and Agroecological cropping systems. Dr. Aurelio Scavo is author of more than 90 scientific contributions, including 57 peer-review articles (WoS / SCOPUS), H-index 23 and 1737 citations.