9th MDPI Guest Editor Club | Environmental & Earth Sciences Session

Doctoral School of Urban Planning, "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania, Technical University of Moldova, Chisinau, Moldova, National Institute for Research and Development in Constructions, Urbanism and Sustainable Spatial Development URBAN-INCERC, Bucharest, Romania;
Born 1975, Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor earned a BS in Ecology (1997) and PhD in Geography (2011) from the University of Bucharest, an MSPH in Biostatistics (2000) and PhD in Ecology from the University of South Carolina (2004), and a certificate degree in Project Management from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (2012). He was awarded the highest research ranks in Biology (2013) and Geography (2017) and received a Habilitation in Urban Planning from the Romanian Ministry of Education (2014). He is a professor and Director of the Doctoral School of Urban Planning at Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, Professor at the Technical University of Moldova, and Senior Researcher, Rank I at the National Institute for Research and Development in Constructions, Urbanism and Sustainable Spatial Development URBAN-INCERC in Bucharest, Romania. His work involving over 80 research grants has yielded over 800 publications, 550 presentations, and environmental studies for over 40 spatial plans, recognized by memberships including Sigma Xi, the Society for Urban Ecology, and the International Association for Landscape Ecology, and awards at international invention shows, including the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions. He is a member of many editorial boards and the Chief Editor of Urbanism Architecture Constructions (Scopus). His research interests include different urban/landscape ecology topics and predatory publishing.

Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences;
Prof. Dr. Mao Miaohua received his BS from Zhejiang University and completed his PhD at the University of Maryland in 2018. He works at Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a full Professor and PhD advisor. His research interests include, but are not limited to, nearshore hydrodynamics, numerical modelling, and observation of wave–current interaction. He has published more than 30 papers in prestigious leading journals, including Journal of Physical Oceanography and JGR: Oceans and Ocean Modelling (including the two most cited Ocean Modelling articles extracted from Scopus). He is the reviewer of more than 40 peer-reviewed journals including Communication Earth and Environment, Ocean Modelling, Progress in Oceanography, and Water Resources Research, among others, and was awarded for his outstanding contribution in reviewing Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science in 2018 (with only roughly 10 recipients worldwide, with a final award rate of approximately 1%) and Journal of Marine Science and Engineering in 2023 (with only 4 recipients worldwide and the sole winner in China, with an award rate far below 0.5%) and serving as a Reviewing Editor for Springer Nature in 2026. He is the Principal Investigator of several projects, including those funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, among others.

Department of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell;
Grace Chen is an Associate Professor in Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on advanced recycling of plastic waste, biobased and biodegradable materials, multilayer packaging, microplastic/biofilm interfacial phenomena, and safer solvent design. Her research group specializes in multilayer packaging and biodegradable materials. Solvolysis techniques for converting a variety of waste components, including biomass and plastics, are also an active research area in her group. Dr. Chen’s research group currently includes one post-doctoral researcher, four Ph.D. students, three master's students, and three undergraduate researchers (all paid by research grants). Dr. Chen’s group’s research has resulted in 63 peer-reviewed journal publications, one patent, seven book chapters, and 130 presentations. Four Ph.D. students and six thesis M.S. students have graduated from the group. Grace has contributed to securing over $8.4 million in research grants. Grace is also the recipient of the ACS PMSE Early Investigator (2024), U.S. Army Research Office Early Career Program (2025), ACS Principal Investigator Development in Sustainability Grant (2025), and ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship Award (2026). She has also won the Department Teaching Excellence Award (2022) and the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award for contributions to Scientific Reports (2025).