Dr. M. Mar Cledera-Castro is a professor and researcher at ICAI-Comillas Pontifical University of Madrid, where she leads the Research Group on Emerging Contaminants and Resource Valorization. She holds an Industrial Engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a Doctorate Cum Laude from Comillas Pontifical University, with a dissertation focused on developing analytical methods for identifying priority pollutant phenols using liquid chromatography. With over 20 years of teaching and research experience, her areas of interest include environmental sustainability, waste valorization, and process optimization for contaminant treatment. She has led numerous funded projects on microplastic detection and energy recovery from agri-food waste. Her extensive scientific output features publications in high-impact international journals and presentations at prominent global conferences. She actively participates in various interdisciplinary academic initiatives in energy transition and sustainability and collaborates with national and international research networks. ORCID: 0000-0001-5975-6310.