About the Author:

Janice E. Thies: Associate professor of soil biology in the School of Integrated Plant Science at Cornell University, USA, and international professor of soil ecology in the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Fellow of both the Soil Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy, and associate editor of the Soil Science Society of America Journal; past member of editorial board for Applied and Environmental Microbiology; subject editor for the journals Agronomy and Soil Biology and Biochemistry; expert consultant for FAO and US Environmental Protection Agency; guest professor at Zhejiang University in China; research focuses on soil management strategies for improving soil health and productivity in smallholder farming systems.