Layla Márquez San Emeterio

SSS Soil System Sciences

The 2026 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Layla Márquez San Emeterio for significantly advancing our understanding of the origin, turnover, and stabilization of soil organic matter in Mediterranean agroecosystems.

Layla Márquez San Emeterio's remarkable enthusiasm for deciphering the complexities of the carbon and nitrogen cycles in soils significantly advanced our understanding of dynamic process of soil organic matter in Mediterranean agroecosystems. A major tool for achieving this represented compound-specific stable isotope analysis via pyrolysis (Py-CSIA) which she advanced for its application to study organic matter transformation under scenarios of climate change or land-use intensification.

San Emeterio's scientific contributions are outstanding. She has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in top scientific journals, many as first or corresponding author. Her research addresses critical issues at the core of soil system sciences, including biogeochemical cycling, molecular soil chemistry, and soil climate resilience.

In addition to scholarly excellence, Layla Márquez San Emeterio represents a very active member of the EGU as she acted as an elected Early Career Scientist Representative for the Soil System Sciences Division (2020–2022) and has spent years contributing with empathy and integrity to public outreach, education, and the promotion of women in science.