Keynote SpeakerS
Prof. Kokyo
Oh
Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Japan
Biography:
Prof. Dr. Kokyo Oh is a senior researcher
in Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Japan. He obtained Ph.D.
degree (soil science) in 1995, and was honored as a research fellow by
Japan Science and Technology Agency (STA) from 1997 to 1999. His
research areas include soil science, environmental conservation,
environmental chemistry and biology, and environmental agronomy. He has
published more than 200 major academic papers, has presided over and
participated in more than 100 scientific research fund projects, and has
been invited to be the chairman of more than 20 international
conferences.
Speech title
"Phytoremediation Research for Contaminated Soils to Conserve Soil
Resources, Produce Biomass and Achieve Sustainable Development"
Abstract-Soil is a limited
natural resource that plays a vital role in global food production,
climate control, biodiversity conservation, and the maintenance of
ecosystem functions. In recent decades, however, soil contamination with
heavy metals and organic chemicals has become increasingly evident and
serious in countries around the world. It is estimated that more than 10
million contaminated sites of soils worldwide. There is a great need for
effective utilization and remediation of these widely contaminated soils
for soil resource conservation and sustainable development.
Currently, measures for treatment of contaminated soils are mainly
physical and chemical methods, such as excavation, curing, heating,
melting, etc., which usually entail huge costs and loss of soil
resources due to disruption of soil functions.
In recent years, phytoremediation, a plant-based remediation technology,
has been receiving increasing attention worldwide as an emerging green
alternative to remediate contaminated soils using the natural properties
of plants and rhizosphere microorganisms. Especially recently, it is not
only a green technology for remediation of contaminated soils, but also
one of the effective technologies for soil resource management, high
value-added biomass production, biodiversity conservation, mitigation of
climate change and other global environmental issues.
This study describes the characteristics and current status of soil
phytoremediation, and explores its new developments with future
prospects for its application in soil resource conservation, biomass
production and sustainable development.
Prof. Byoung
Ryong Jeong
Gyeongsang National University, Republic of Korea
Biography:
Professor Byoung Ryong JEONG obtained his
BS (Gyeongsang National Univ., GNU) and MS (Seoul National Univ.)
degrees in Republic of Korea, and his PhD in Horticulture in 1990 from
Colorado State Univ., USA on nitrogen nutrition in bedding plants. He
had postdoctoral research on water relations in plants at Univ. of
Missouri-Columbia, USA and on environmental control for plant production
at Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba Univ., Japan. Since 1992, he has been
affiliated with Dept. of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, GNU, Korea, where he once served as the dean of the college.
His current research interest and topics include, but not limited to,
organogenic and somatic embryogenic micropropagation of floricultural,
medicinal and rare/endangered plants; propagation and hydroponic culture
of floricultural, horticultural and medicinal crops in the greenhouse
and plant factory systems; lighting technology in horticulture for
control of flowering and photomorphogenesis; silicon nutrition in
horticultural crops; and use of plants for removal of fine dust in the
air. He has published 400+ papers in reputed journals
(https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Byoung_Ryong_Jeong). He has been
academic adviser for 19 post-doctoral, 22 PhD, and 73 MS students so
far. He also served as the editor-in-chief for several journals,
including Horticulture, Environment and Biotechnology published by the
Korean Society for Horticultural Science for which he is currently
serving as the president elect.