Luis Lopez-Sangil

I’m a soil scientist interested in global change (in its broadest sense). My main focus is the study of organic C cycling in soils, which I was able to approach from different perspectives during my doctoral thesis. I joined the FORESTPRIME project in April 2013, keen to continue along this path.

My previous research was developed at the Plant Biology Department (University of Barcelona, Spain) and the Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia, under the guidance of Dr. Pere Rovira and Dr. Pere Casals. I combined fieldwork in agroforestry systems, mesocosm studies and lab-based experiments in order to gain more insight about the effects of a lower frequency of rainfalls – predicted for subtropical and Mediterranean regions – on the loss and stabilization of soil organic matter (SOM) with depth. I particularly focused on the role of the microbial and the mineral components in soil organic C cycling. At the same time, I co-developed a new method for bulk soil ¹⁴C analysis, and a procedure for assessing the relevance of the mineral-stabilized SOM.

Last (but not least), I truly believe in social activism, based on the idea that the most of pressing problems facing human beings during this century (and the altered global C cycle is among them) cannot be overcome without the spread of critical thinking and global social awareness.

Current project: As Senior Research Associate on the FORESTPRIME team, I am involved in the extensive fieldwork research conducted at Wytham Woods (UK), which will mirror that developed by Dr. Laetitia Brechet in Panama. I am also co-responsible of the different laboratory approaches needed to ensure our mechanistic understanding of soil organic C cycling in the different forest ecosystems.

Follow Luis on Researchgate.