Professor Francisco Javier Matus is an agronomist with a Master's degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a PhD in Soil and Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In 2009, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Carleton University and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to work on a government-funded project aimed at improving nitrogen use efficiency in cropping systems. His research emphasises soil nutrient dynamics and conservation in volcanic soils, nitrogen use efficiency, and carbon sequestration in agricultural and natural ecosystems. He possesses expertise in stable isotope techniques and the biogeochemistry of carbon and nitrogen cycling in pristine forests, as well as in extreme environments such as Antarctic soils. Professor Matus has engaged in international research collaborations, including projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with Georg-August University in Göttingen and Tübingen University. He also has experience in rhizosphere studies and crop simulation modelling. He maintains an extensive research network with institutions across Europe, the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Currently, he is a full professor and Director of the Laboratory of Conservation and Dynamics of Volcanic Soils and serves as Director of the Phd Program in Natural Resource Sciences at Universidad de La Frontera in Chile.