Vilmantas Pupkis is an Assistant Professor and educator based at the Life Sciences Center of Vilnius University in Lithuania, where he completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees in biophysics. His scientific research focuses on plant biophysics, particularly how plants use electrical signaling and related biophysical mechanisms to respond to environmental stressors, combining classical electrophysiology with advanced spectroscopic techniques. He has published research on electrical excitability in plant cells and continues to investigate how local environmental fluctuations influence photosynthetic activity and signal transduction. In addition to his research, Pupkis actively participates in teaching and educational initiatives aimed at improving university pedagogy. He is also involved in scientific communities through collaborations with research groups abroad and serves as a council member of the Lithuanian Biophysical Society, organizing conferences and educational events.

Denize Favaro is a Research Associate Professor at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center and Director of the Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility. Her research focuses on the structural and conformational dynamics of proteins involved in bacterial resistance and on identifying targets for antibiotic development. She holds a BSc in Chemistry from State University of Maringa (UEM) and an MSc and PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Before joining CUNY in 2021, she worked as NMR Facility Manager at the University of São Paulo (USP), where she developed expertise in protein biochemistry and biophysics. She later held Assistant Professor positions at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) for a brief period, where she had the opportunity to complete a sabbatical postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University in 2017, and at UNICAMP. Professor Favaro employs a broad range of biophysical and biochemical techniques, including NMR, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC), Circular Dichroism (CD), UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), molecular dynamics, docking simulations, and protein semi-rational evolution to advance the understanding of bacterial resistance mechanisms. She also has a strong background in organic synthesis and theoretical calculations, particularly in conformational analysis and the study of coupling constant transmission mechanisms.

Gianluca Ferraro is a System Engineer at Leonardo S.p.A., based at the Electro-Optics facility in Campi Bisenzio. In his current role, he focuses on multi electro-optical systems, i.e. VIS and Infrared tecnologies. Gianluca earned his Master’s degree in Nanotechnology Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome before moving to the United Kingdom for a PhD at the University of Birmingham. His doctoral research investigated the existence and characterization of bulk nanobubbles, during which he presented his research at various international conferences, but also served as a Teaching Associate at the University of Birmingham. Following his PhD, he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Rome. In collaboration with Sapienza University, CrestOptics, and D-tails, he contributed to early-stage research on high-resolution optical characterization for Alzheimer’s disease detection, focusing on tau proteins in the human retina. His expertise also extends to the fluorescent characterization of retinal tissues and optical techniques for cancer detection.

Abel Barral Cuesta completed a PhD in Palaeoenvironments and Evolution at the Université Lyon 1 and postdoctoral experience at the CNRS.

Previously he obtained a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Ecology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He started his editorial career in 2019, having served as full-time scientific editor on top-tier journals across the ecology & environment space for top publishers including the Nature portfolio (Nature Ecology & Evolution and Nature Plants), Cell Press (iScience and One Earth) and Wiley (Advanced Science). He is currently Deputy Editor at Wiley’s highest-profile Advanced portfolio, leading the strategic development and content acquisition of the brand in ecology & environment areas.

Jacopo Pasotti is a science communicator, lecturer and freelance journalist. Complementing his background in geology, he earned a master in scientific communication at the Australian National University of Canberra, in 2004.

Jacopo’s deep experience in communication in science has enabled him to deliver numerous and diverse workshops for over 10 years on a worldwide scale from Europe (Italy, Germany, Switzerland) to Australia.

His engagement in scientific dissemination and its advancement is reflected in his membership in SWIM SWITY – Science Writers in Milan and Italy- since 2011, as well as his contribution to the H2020 QUEST (QUality and Effectiveness in Science and Technology communication) EU-funded project where he conducted research assessing the determinants and the critical factors for the successful promotion of scientific topics.

Jacopo also serves as a concept writer and event developer for museums, forums, conferences, private communication agencies, and academic projects. His public outreach activities include participating in the TEDx Bergamo 2023 and acting as a documentarist and science communication advisor for ERC-funded research projects.

As a journalist, he was awarded the Piazzano Prize in 2011 for scientific journalism and his reports have been published in big-impact journals such as Science, GEO, Die Zeit and National Geographic.