Recent Advances in Environmental Science from the Euro-Mediterranean and Surrounding Regions

This edited book includes more than four hundred short papers that were presented during the fourth edition of EMCEI, which was held in Sousse, Tunisia in November 2022. By presenting a wide range of environmental topics and new findings relevant to a variety of problems in the Mediterranean region and its surroundings, the book addresses emerging environmental issues along with new challenges by focusing on innovative approaches that contribute to achieving a sustainable environment in these regions. The book appeals to anyone working in the subject area and especially students interested in learning more about new developments in environmental research initiatives in light of the worsening environmental degradation of the Mediterranean and surrounding areas, making environmental and resource protection an increasingly important issue that impedes sustainable development and social well-being. The book addresses emerging environmental issues along with new challenges by focusing oninnovative approaches that contribute to achieving a sustainable environment in and around the Mediterranean Sea and by highlighting to decision makers from relevant sectors the environmental considerations that should be integrated into their own activities.

Mohamed Ksibi completed his Ph.D. in 1993 in Applied Chemistry at the University of Poitiers, France. He also gained the Habilitation (HDR) in Chemistry from the University of Sfax, Tunisia in 2003. He was appointed as a full professor of Chemistry in 2009 at the Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sfax. He has supervised 13 thesis to completion and examined a further 4 Ph.D.s. He has also supervised 15 M.Sc. thesis. He has co-published about 106 papers, 8 book chapters and co-edited 3 books. He is the co-editor-in-chief of the Euro-Mediterranean Journal of Environmental Integration (h-index 28). He had been the Institute’s Deputy Director of the ISBS from August 2011 until December 2017, and he served as the director of the Department of Biotechnology and Health at ISBS from May 2008 until May 2011.

Arturo Sousa has a Ph.D. in Biology since 2004 and has worked as a faculty member for 20 years in the Department of Plant Biology and Ecology of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Seville (Spain), where he teaches different subjects related to Pharmaceutical Botany and Plant Biology. He is specialised in the temporal evolution of hygrophytic plant communities, landscape ecology, climate change, and wetlands. His research lines, which began with the study of diachronic changes in the hygrophytic vegetation of Doñana (Southwestern Spain), allowed him to establish multidisciplinary collaborations with specialists in limnology, climatology and atmospheric physics. He stands out as an author and/or an editor of several books. He has been an evaluator of R&D projects and of numerous indexed journals, as well as a reviewer of reports of Spanish and international expert panels about Climate Change.

Dr. Olfa Hentati is Associate Professor (2019) at the Higher Institute of Biotechnology (ISBS), University of Sfax.  She received her Diploma in Biology and Functional Exploration from the Faculty of Medicine at the Universityof Tunis, Tunisia, in 1988, and her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Cell Biology from the University of Poitiers, France in 1993 and 1994, respectively, and Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Physiology from the University of Poitiers, France in 1999. She is Associate Editor in the Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration and serves as a referee in several peer-reviewed scientific journals. She supervised several final projects of undergraduate and graduate students preparing bachelor and master degree diplomas. She participated as a team member to several international and bilateral projects. She also was a principle investigator of a bilateral project between Tunisia and Portugal.

Dr. Haroun Chenchouni is an associate professor and research scientist (Ecologist) at the Higher National School of Forests (Khenchela, Algeria). He is a former associate professor at the University of Tebessa (Algeria). He holds a doctorate degree in Ecology and Environment fromthe University of Batna 2 (Algeria) and a M.Sc. (Magister) in Dryland Ecology from the University of Ouargla (Algeria). He graduated as an engineer in Plant Ecology and Forest Ecosystems from the Department of Biological Sciences (University of Batna, Algeria). At various universities in Algeria, he teaches forest ecology, biostatistics, and ecological modeling. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and internationally recognized research papers. He is also involved in national and international research projects. In 2017, he joined the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (AJGS) as an associate editor.

José Lopes Velho graduated in Geology from the University of Coimbra. He is an associate professor at the Department of Geosciences at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. He holds a Master's Degree in Economic and Applied Geology from the University of Lisbon and a Doctor's Degree in Geosciences, specializing in Mineralogy, from the University of Aveiro. He is a member of the Industrial Minerals and Clays Research Unit. He published 23 papers in international journals (Scopus h-index 8).

Prof. Negm is a professor of Hydraulics (and Water Resources) at Zagazig University. His current domain of research is sustainable water resources and their management. He is a member of IAHR, ICWEES, EGU, and IAH. He is a member of the scientific committee of several international conferences and a member of the organizing committee of others and participated in more than 95 conferences as well. He delivered several keynote talks at international conferences. He is a reviewer of more than 50 international scientific journals that indexed in Scopus and WoS. He was the head of the Egyptian permanent scientific committee for Water Resources from 2019 to 2022 and the vice head from 2016 to 2019. He is a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals He led several international projects and participated insome others. He was nominated for many awards by IBC and ABI.

Jesús Rodrigo-Comino is a member of the Department of Regional and Physical Geography at the University of Granada (Spain). He completed his first Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Málaga (Spain) and Trier (Germany) in 2018 and the second one in the engineering of Geomatics and Topography at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (2023). His current research interests include soil geography, regional geography, and land degradation. He coordinates the Terra Lab 2 EGEMAP (Environmental Geography and Mapping).

Professor Riheb Hadji is a distinguished scholar currently affiliated with the Department of Earth Sciences at the esteemed University of Setif 1. With remarkable expertise in various fields, including Engineering Geology, Natural Hazards, Geotechnics, Geomorphology, Geoinformatics (GIS), and Remote Sensing, he has been actively involved in groundbreaking research.  Beyond his academic contributions, he holds significant leadership roles. He serves as the editor-in-chief of the esteemed Journal of Water Engineering and Environmental Sciences, contributing to the dissemination of valuable scientific knowledge in the field. Additionally, he holds the position of the head of the Laboratory of Applied Research in Engineering Geology, Geotechnics, Water Sciences and Environment at Setif 1 University.  His current project focuses on 'Risk Management in the Mediterranean Basin.' Through his multifaceted research and leadership roles, he has made notable contributions to the field of Earth Sciences and continues to drive advancements in risk management and related disciplines.

Dr. Sudip Chakraborty is a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Italy. Currently, he is working at Laboratory of Transport Phenomena and Biotechnology, University of Calabria, Italy. He delivered several Keynote/Invited lectures and presentations in many international conferences all over the world. His major fields of interest are membrane separation, plasmonic nanoparticle, composite materials, energy, and process intensification.  He, with h-index-42, published more than 125 research publications in international SCI indexed journals/book chapter as well as more than 95 conferences. He is involved with several Elsevier/Springer journal as an associate editor or a chief editor. Apart from that he also edited several thematic special issues related to chemical engineering.

Professor Achraf Ghorbal is the head and co-founder of the Advanced Materials, Applied Mechanics, Innovative Processes, and Environment Research Unit. He served as the vice-director of the Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Gabes–University of Gabes–Tunisia for seven years (2013–2020). He obtained his M.Sc. in Processes and Materials Engineering (2003) and Ph.D. in Chemistry of Materials (2006) from the Universityof Haute Alsace–Mulhouse–France. In 2007, he joined the French Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique) in Saclay–France, as a post-doctoral fellow. Subsequently, in 2008, he was hired as an assistant professor and later promoted to an associate professor and then a full professor in Materials Sciences in 2015 at the University of Gabes―Tunisia. His research focuses on wastewater treatment, biopolymers, eco-materials, and bio-composites for environmental applications.  He has also coordinated research and educational projects as a principal investigator.