Short Bio

Olafur Arnalds has a Ph.D. in Soil Science from Texas A&M University. He has been a professor at the Agricultural University of Iceland since 2005 (Dean until 2012). He has participated in numerous international research and policy programmes related to soil and environmental sciences (e.g. EU COST, and Nordic networks). He served three years on the board of the Icelandic Research Fund. Olafur has emphasized outreach programmes and the development of educational materials in addition to scientific publications.  See www.moldin.net for CV and publications.

His research focus has been on the soils of volcanic areas, genesis and properties of Icelandic soils, ecological restoration and carbon sequestration. He has written/co-written and edited/co-edited several international scientific books on soils, soil conservation, and rangeland sciences in addition to numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers.  He is also the author of the Icelandic soil map and The Soils of Iceland. His program on "Soil Erosion in Iceland" earned the Nordic Nature and Environmental Award in 1998.  He has devoted efforts on aeolian processes in Icelandic desert areas and has quantified/mapped dust production from Icelandic dust sources. Ólafur also ran successful legal campaigns to make information about agricultural subsidies in Iceland public, as part of his environmental activism.