Laboratory of Conservation and Dynamics of Volcanic Soils
Our team is made up of professionals from different areas of natural resources; Agronomists, Biologists, Biochemists and Biotechnologists.
Profesor, Director
Professor Francisco Matus is an agricultural engineer and completed his master’s degree at the Pontificia Universidad Católica-Chile (1989) and his doctorate at the Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands. Both programs were carried out in plant nutrition, soil fertility, and environmental science. In 2009 he was invited as a postdoctoral fellow by the Carleton University Department of Chemistry and by the Canadian Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food to join a government project to improve the efficiency of nitrogen use for the 2009-2011 farming system. ). His main research interest is the dynamics of soil nutrients and conservation in volcanic soils. He has been working on efficiency in the use of nitrogen and sequestration of carbon and nitrogen in agricultural soils and natural ecosystems. He has experience in the biogeochemistry of the carbon and nitrogen cycle in pristine forest ecosystems, in remote mountain environments and extreme areas such as Antarctic ecosystems. In 2017 he was invited by the Department of Agriculture and Soil Sciences of the Georg-August University, Göettingen, Germany to work on abiotic processes on the sequestration of nitrogen and organic carbon from the soil. Professor Matus has experience in studies of stable isotopes at the rhizosphere level and crop simulation models, has several indexed publications and an extensive network of international contacts and national collaboration with research groups in Germany, Holland, France, Canada, Belgium and New Zealand. Previously, he was Director of the PhD Program in Natural Resource Sciences at the University of La Frontera, whose significant achievements were a national accreditation for eight years (maximum 10) and an international accreditation for five years in the European Union.
Investigadora
Dr. Carolina Merino is a Biologist in natural resource management with a master’s degree in Environmental Education from the Catholic University of Temuco and currently stands out as a researcher in the field of microbiology and its interaction with soil mineralogy. She completed her PhD in Natural Resource Sciences in 2015 at the University of La Frontera, whose doctoral thesis was developed at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France. Since then, his research has been carried out in the Laboratory of Conservation and Dynamics of Volcanic Soils of the University of La Frontera. His career began with the study of the interaction of mineralogy and quality of soil organic matter on the “priming” effect on the carbon balance of forest soils. His current line of research is in the study of biotic / abiotic interactions between microorganisms, plants and minerals that affect the stabilization of organic matter in extreme environments. With a special focus on the redox and biogeochemical dynamics of the soil along chronosequences in subpolar and polar ecosystems. His work involves the use of stable isotopes as tracers and integrators of biogeochemical cycles and molecular techniques to evaluate the diversity and activity of soil microorganisms. She currently belongs to international cooperation networks as Co-researcher in two large EarthShape projects, funded by DFG (German Research Foundation) and is part of the modeling group for adaptation to climate change funded by ESSA (European Space Simulation Association) of the European Earth System Modeling Community.
Investigador Post Doctoral
Dr. Ignacio Jofré is a Biotechnologist with a master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of La Frontera. His area of research is the field of Redox Biology and the interaction with elements that capture reactive oxygen species. In 2019, she completed her PhD studies, which were developed jointly with the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) under the co-supervision of Dr. Mayra Elena Ortiz D Avila Assumpção, allowing her to obtain double graduation in the same house of studies. His scientific career focuses on the biological interaction and function of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in different cell types and matrices, especially in the physiological behavior and relevance of ROS in intra and extracellular communication. Currently, he is developing the Postdoctoral project under FONDECYT (ANID) funding entitled “Biotic and abiotic impact of ROS scavenging by manganese on lignin degradation in temperate rainforest soils”, where he delves into the influence of ROS emitted by soil microorganisms and the competition that it is generated by the oxidation of organic matter (SOM), and biologically active metals such as Manganese. His current interest is to characterize the dynamics of ROS as a non-enzymatic oxidation system that alternately allows the restructuring of extracellular conditions, improving the adaptability of microorganisms under adverse conditions. Dr. Jofré has analytical capabilities in Flow Cytometry, Cell Sorting, Confocal Microscopy and Fluorimetry. During his career, Dr. Jofré has participated in basic science projects (FONDECYT) and technology transfer (FIA, FONDEF, CORFO). Currently, it registers 3 industrial protections (1 National, 1 PCT and 1 Industrial secret), and one of them is in the process of licensing.
Agricultural Engineer and Ecophysiologist
Dr. Denisse Zamorano holds a PhD in Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and Veterinary Sciences from the University of Chile. Her research focuses on the development of climate-resilient agriculture from a transdisciplinary perspective, integrating applied research, project management, and technology transfer.
She has experience in R&D, participating in public interest projects implemented by the Center for Arid Zone Studies at the University of Chile. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Volcanic Soil Conservation and Dynamics Laboratory at the University of La Frontera, where she studies the impact of agricultural systems on the physicochemical processes that influence carbon sequestration in these soils.
In this line of research, she leads the projects Carbon Farming in Livestock and Zero-Till Systems in Southern Chile (2022-2025) and Carbon Farming: A Race Toward Digitalization (2025-2026).
Biotechnologist, graduated from the Universidad de la Frontera. She currently works as a lab manager and manages complex equipment. She provides support in biological and chemical analysis.
She is an agricultural engineer and graduate of the University of La Frontera. She currently supports soil sampling and chemical and physical analysis.
Plant Biotechnology Engineer graduated from the University of Concepción. He currently works in soil and water chemical analysis.
Graduate in Biotechnology, currently studying Biotechnology at the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of La Frontera. She currently works in biochemical and microbiological soil analysis.
Biochemist graduated from the University of La Frontera. She currently works on biochemical analysis and molecular biology of soils.
She is an agricultural engineer and graduate of the University of La Frontera. She currently supports soil sampling and chemical and physical analysis.
PhD in Natural Resources Sciences, Universidad de La Frontera.
PhD in Natural Resources Sciences, Universidad de La Frontera.
Natural Resources Engineering student, Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Universidad de La Frontera.