Dr. Gary Bañuelos is a Plant/Soil scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Water Management Research Unit, Parlier, California, and adjunct professor at the University of California and California State University-Fresno. Dr. Bañuelos began work with green technology with Professor H. Marschner in Germany and focuses his research on the phytoremediation of soils and waters laden with selenium, boron, and salinity in California, and on integrated production of innovative biofortified and bio-based products (e.g., biofuel, Se-enriched feeds, and organic fertilizer/herbicides). He strives for creating a sustainable green strategy for managing trace elements in the United States and in other parts of the world. Dr. Bañuelos is the principle author of over 140 refereed technical journals on the topic of phytoremediation and has co-edited four books. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in German from California State University, Bachelor of Science in Crop Science, and Master of Science degree in International Agriculture from California Poly-Technical University, while his diploma in Plant Biology was earned at the University of Tubingen, Germany, and doctorate in Agriculture/Plant Nutrition at Hohenheim University, Germany, as a U.S. National Science Foundation Fellow.

Dr. Z.-Q. Lin is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Director of the Environmental Sciences Program at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville in Illinois. Dr. Lin received his BS degree in Environmental Biology from Liaoning University in China, MS degree in Pollution Ecology from Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Ph.D. degree in Renewable Resources from McGill University in Canada. He was a post-graduate researcher on biogeochemistry of selenium at University of California - Berkeley. His research is related to the biogeochemistry of environmentally important trace elements, with a special focus on biological accumulation, transformation, and volatilization processes of selenium in the air-water-soil-plant system. He is the author or coauthor of over 65 peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals, proceedings and monographs.