Education

2002, Ph.D. in Environmental and Agricultural Chemistry, Autonomous University of Madrid (European Doctorate)

1998, B.S./M.S. in Chemistry, Autonomous University of Madrid

Professional experience

2017-2018, Visiting Scientist, Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab, Rey Juan Carlos University

2015-2017, Visiting Scientist/Affiliated Faculty, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, USA

2009-present, Research Group Leader, Soil Organic Matter, Environmental Waste Management, and Global Change, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, CSIC

2008-present, Tenured Scientist, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Center for Environmental Sciences, CSIC

2006-2008, Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow, Center for Environmental Sciences, CSIC

2005-2006, Juan de la Cierva Research Fellow, Center for Environmental Sciences, CSIC

2003-2005, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Agroforestal and Environmental Biology and Chemistry, University of Bari, Italy

1998-2002, Research Assistant, Center for Environmental Sciences, CSIC

Also Visiting Scientist at the Institute of Agricultural Chemistry and Department of Agroforestal and Environmental Biologyand Chemistry, University of Bari, Italy (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2006), Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA (2008), Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, USA (2009), Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center, USDA-ARS, Pendleton, USA (2010), Environmental NMR Research Center, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Canada (2011), National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfield University, UK (2013)

Professional service and activities

2016-2018, Chair, Soil Chemistry Subdivision, SSS, European Geosciences Union (EGU)

2019-present, Editorial Board Member, Scientific Reports

2009-2015, Associate Editor, Journal of Environmental Quality

Research interests

Properties, functions, and dynamics of soil organic matter

Mechanisms of soil organic matter stabilization and carbon sequestration

Molecular structures, transformations, and reactivity soil organic matter

Effects of agricultural practices and climate change on soil organic matter and greenhouse gas emissions

Treatment of organic wastes for use as soil amendments in agriculture

Composting, pyrolysis...

Agrochemical quality of organic amendments and effects on soils and crops

Selected publications

Plaza, C., Pegoraro, E., Bracho, R., Celis, G., Crummer, K.G., Hutchings, J.A., Hicks Pries, C.E., Mauritz, M., Natali, S.M., Salmon, V.G., Schädel, C., Webb, E.E., Schuur, E.A.G., 2019. Direct observation of permafrost degradation and rapid soil carbon loss in tundra. Nature Geoscience (in press).

Moreno-Jiménez, E., Plaza, C., Saiz, H., Manzano, R., Flagmeier, M., Maestre, F.T., 2019. Aridity and reduced soil micronutrient availability in global drylands. Nature Sustainability 2, 371-377.

Dacal, M., Bradford, M.A., Plaza, C., Maestre, F.T., García-Palacios, P., 2019. Soil microbial respiration adapts to ambient temperature in global drylands. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3, 232-238.

Plaza, C., Zaccone, C., Sawicka, K., Méndez, A.M., Tarquis, A., Gascó, G., Heuvelink, G.B.M., Schuur, E.A.G., Maestre, F.T., 2018. Soil resources and element stocks in drylands to face global issues. Scientific Reports 8, 13788.

Zaccone, C., Plaza, C., Ciavatta, C., Miano, T.M., Shotyk, W., 2018. Advances in the determination of humification degree in peat since Achard (1786): Applications in geochemical and paleoenvironmental studies. Earth-Science Reviews 185, 163-178.

Liang, J., Xia, J., Shi, Z. Jiang, L., Ma, S., Lu, X., Mauritz, M., Natali, S.M., Pegoraro, E., Penton, C.R., Plaza, C., Salmon, V.G., Celis, G., Cole, J.R., Konstantinidis, K.T., Tiedje, J.M., Zhou, J., Schuur, E.A.G., Luo, Y., 2018. Biotic responses buffer warming-induced soil organic carbon loss in Arctic tundra. Global Change Biology 24, 4946-4959.

Plaza, C., Giannetta, B., Fernández, J.M., López-de-Sá, E.G., Polo, A., Méndez, A., Zaccone, C., 2016. Response of different soil organic matter pools to biochar and organic fertilizers. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 225, 150-159.

Plaza, C., Pawlett, M., Fernández, J.M., Méndez, A., Gascó, G., Ritz, K., 2015. Does biochar interfere with standard methods for determining soil microbial biomass and phenotypic community structure? Soil Biology & Biochemistry 81, 143-146.

Fernández, J.M., Nieto, A., López-de-Sá, E.G., Gascó, G., Méndez, A., Plaza, C., 2014. Carbon dioxide emissions from semi-arid soils amended with biochar alone or combined with mineral and organic fertilizers. Science of the Total Environment 482-483, 1-7.

Courtier-Murias, D., Simpson, A.J., Marzadori, C., Baldoni, G., Ciavatta, C., Fernández, J.M., López-de-Sá, E.G., Plaza, C., 2013. Unraveling the long-term stabilization mechanisms of organic materials in soils by physical fractionation and NMR spectroscopy. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 171, 9-18.

Plaza, C., Courtier-Murias, D., Fernández, J.M., Polo, A., Simpson, A.J., 2013. Physical, chemical, and biochemical mechanisms of soil organic matter stabilization under conservation tillage systems: A central role for microbes and microbial by-products in C sequestration. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 57, 124-134.

Patents

Quintana, M.A., Colmenarejo, M.F., Borja, R., González, R., García, G., Sánchez, E.P., Abileo, F., Arellano, A., Plaza, C., 2009. Procedure for recovering a struvite-rich fertilizer from wastewaters, solid by-products and gas emissions. Spanish Patent, Application Form No. P200601070, Holder Entity: CSIC, Licensed companies: Canal de Isabel II.