Paula Echeverría-Galindo is a scientific researcher with the Institute for Geosystems and Bioindication at the Technical University of Braunschweig, in Germany. At the same institute, she earned a magna cum laude recognition for her PhD degree in natural sciences. Paula holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, and a master’s degree in Limnology and Marine Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has over 10 years of experience as a teacher of biology, geosciences and climate change. Her research interests are in climate change and its impact on aquatic communities. Paula is focusing on modern ecology and paleolimnological reconstructions, using multiple aquatic microorganisms, sedimentology and geochemical approaches to understand how the systems adapt and respond to global warming. Her research work has been carried out in the neotropics and on the Tibetan Plateau. She was awarded with a grant to expand her research in the neotropics examining paleolimnological data from volcanic lakes in Guatemala. She has been involved in activities related to gender equality and scientific outreach.

Chika Ejikeugwu (PhD, 2017, UNIZIK, Nigeria) is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Stiftung in Germany. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is the Founder of the online Microbiology website, www.MicrobiologyClass.net. He was a DAAD postdoctoral fellow at the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), Berlin, Germany.

He was also a MIF Fellow, and had his first postdoctoral training on HIV-1 at the Laboratory of Infectious Disease Model, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (2018). He holds a PhD. in Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology from Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Nigeria. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is a tutor in Pharmaceutical Microbiology & Biotechnology in Nigeria. His areas of research interest include antimicrobial resistance (AMR), infectious diseases, bacteriology, virology.

Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is a Senior Lecturer & Researcher at the Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), Agbani, Nigeria where he mentors undergraduate and postgraduate students on microbiology & other aspects of life.

Lai received his PhD in biomedical engineering from the Malaysia University of Technology and Ilmenau Technical University in Germany through the German Academic Exchange Service PhD Sandwich Programme. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Malaya, and chief technology officer of BioSight Sdn Bhd. Lai was awarded a fellowship by the Association of Commonwealth Universities by the UK in 2021 for his research on recovered COVID-19 patients’ risk of hospital readmission. Later, Lai was conferred the Young Engineer Award 2021 by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia. Lai was also awarded the IEEE-EMBS Early Career Achievement Award 2021 by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Malaysia Chapter the same year. Lai was elected as Fellow of Engineers Australia and Fellow of Institute of Engineers Malaysia. In 2022, Lai was bestowed the Board of Engineers Malaysia Most Prominent Young Engineering Leader Award by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Elías Peraza has been the Educational Technological Prospective Manager of the Directorate of Educational Technology, Salvadoran Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, since 2022. He conducts studies in science, technology and innovation (STI), prioritizing those of interest to the education system, including emerging technologies. He graduated in business administration from the University of El Salvador in 2010 and earned a master’s degree in business management for innovation and internationalization from the University of Basque Country, Spain, in 2011. In 2019, Peraza received a PhD in economics with cum laude distinction from Universities of Burgos, Valladolid and Salamanca, Spain. He studied both his master’s and doctorate thanks to scholarships from the European Union. Peraza has published academic and diffusion articles about systems of innovation, STI policies, business innovation behaviour, and economic policy. Regarding awards, he got the Ruben Dario Central American Award for Academic Excellence in 2009, and participated in the 22nd TWAS-LACREP Young Scientist Conference at Rio de Janeiro.