Dori Torres Rojas

Dori is a passionate soil scientist with a diverse international background. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, her journey into soil science began after gaining practical experience working on an organic farm in California and volunteering with the Global Services Corps in Tanzania. There, she taught smallholder farmers about sustainable soil practices to improve food security, sparking her interest in addressing agricultural challenges from a multidimensional perspective.

She pursued advanced soil science degrees, completing her Master's and Doctorate at Cornell University. During her PhD, Dori researched biochar systems in smallholder farms in Kenya, examining various aspects of the system, including the effects of biochar on soil, resource availability, biochar production energy use, and reducing indoor air pollution through improved pyrolytic stoves. Her research emphasizes understanding the thermal and biological transformations of organic nitrogen in plant residues and their impact on the persistence of pyrogenic carbon in terrestrial ecosystems.

Dori's research interests have evolved to focus on the mechanistic interactions governing nitrogen removal, retention, and sequestration in agricultural and natural ecosystems. She came to New Zealand in 2019 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, where she worked on optimizing bioreactor nitrate removal rates by activating media surfaces and controlling redox conditions to enhance denitrification processes.

In 2022, Dori became a lecturer at the University of Waikato in Environmental Science and established a research program focused on the abiotic and biotic processes controlling ammonia losses from farming systems. Her diverse experiences and research pursuits have cemented Dori's commitment to addressing complex food systems challenges through the lens of soils and environmental disciplines, with a focus on sustainable and innovative practices.

Outside of her professional work, Dori enjoys cooking for friends and family, drumming, hiking, and traveling when she's not in the lab or conducting fieldwork.