William Trenti

Research fellow at the University of Bologna. My research interests include digital soil mapping of soil classes and properties, with a focus on the pedodiversity of mountain areas and the soil-landscape interaction; the turnover of organic matter and microbial biomass according to soil forming factors, both in natural and agricultural ecosystems; the impact of land use change on soil properties. I am especially keen in field pedology, GIS analysis with QGIS and data analysis with R. I engage in dissemination events, excursions, lectures on soil science aimed at hiking guides and the general public.

EDUCATION

• 2022-2026: PhD at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, Italy (supervisor Prof. Livia Vittori Antisari). Digital Soil Mapping of Mountain Soils: From Pedodiversity to Land Suitability and Ecosystem Services. Excellent cum laude.
• June-December 2024: visiting scholar at Utah State University (Logan, UT, USA) under the supervision of Prof. Janis Boettinger. Mapping soil classes and properties in mountain regions of Italy and the western USA.
• 2018-2021 – MSc (LM-73) in Planning and management of agri-forest ecosystems, curriculum A: Ecosystem analysis and monitoring. 110/110 cum laude. Thesis in Sensitivity and vulnerability of the water-soil system (Prof. Livia Vittori Antisari): “Pedogenetic factors in the high Modena Apennine: lithology, vegetation and forest management”.
• 2014-2018 - BSc in Sciences of the agro-forest environment. 110/110 cum laude. Thesis in Agrometeorology and agricultural ecology (Prof. Francesca Ventura): “Agricultural crops in bioregenerative life support systems for space exploration”.

  PUBLICATIONS

• Trenti W., De Feudis M., Urso V., Tabanelli G., Gardini G., & Vittori Antisari L. (2026). Integrating microbial communities and stable isotopes to trace pedogenetic processes in mountain soils. Geoderma Regional (under review).
• Urso V., Trenti W., De Feudis M., Falsone G., Vittori Antisari L., & Bianchini G. (2026). Multivariate Evaluation of Pedogenetic Indicators: Limits and Potentials of Rare Earth Elements in Mountain Treeline Soils. Soil Systems (accepted for publication)
• Schillaci C., Alves G. B., Bayad M., Bozoki B., Bondi G., Burn C. R., Breure T., Certini G., Chen S., D’Amico M. E., De Feudis M., Cerón González A., Hannam J., Itkin D., Jones A., Maerker M., Mantel S., Michieli E., Montanarella L., … Trenti W., … & Evans D. L. (2026). Understanding pedodiversity: Soil profiles across climate and land-use an overview on data availability and time dimension. European Journal of Soil Science (accepted for publication)
• Gaggia, F., De Feudis, M., Pagliarini, E., Trenti, W., Di Gioia, D., & Antisari, L. V. (2026). Water quality of artificial canals used for agricultural purposes affected by urban and agricultural activities through a chemical and microbial perspective. Agricultural Water Management, 324, 110116.
• Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Marinari, S., Murolo, S., Tabanelli, G., Puliga, F., ... & Vittori Antisari, L. (2025). Hillslope Morphological Features Modulate Soil Microbial Communities and Chestnut Ink Disease via Clay and Water Redistribution. Applied Sciences, 15(21), 11695.
• Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Gherardi, M., Vianello, G., & Vittori Antisari, L. (2025). Land Unit Delineation Based on Soil-Forming Factors: A Tool for Soil Survey in Mountainous Protected Areas. Land, 14(8), 1683.
• De Feudis, M., Trenti, W., Manfredi, P., Cassinari, C., Vianello, G., & Vittori Antisari, L. (2025). Negative impact of alluvial sediments on physical properties of agricultural soils affected by flooding in May 2023 in Emilia Romagna Region (Northern Italy). Journal of Soils and Sediments, 25(1), 103-115.
• Cremonini, S., Trenti, W., Pastorelli, R., Fabiani, A., Vianello, G., & Vittori Antisari, L. (2024). Subaqueous soils and preliminary considerations on the occasional formation of “fairy circles” in the Comacchio saline (Province of Ferrara, Italy). EQA-International Journal of Environmental Quality, 61, 62-70.
• Vittori Antisari, L., De Feudis, M., Trenti, W., Falsone, G., Puliga, F., Zambonelli, A., ... & Gardini, F. (2024). Pedodiversity and Organic Matter Dynamics in the North Apennines (Italy): Relationships among Soil Types, Biodiversity, and Ecological Functionality. Forests, 15(2), 353.
• Rossi, M.; De Feudis, M.; Trenti, W.; Gherardi, M.; Vianello, G.; Antisari, L.V. (2023). GIS-Based Geopedological Approach for Assessing Land Suitability for Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) Groves for Fruit Production. Forests 2023, 14, 224.
• Vittori Antisari, L.; Trenti, W.; Buscaroli, A.; Falsone, G.; Vianello, G.; De Feudis, M. (2023). Pedodiversity and Organic Matter Stock of Soils Developed on Sandstone Formations in the Northern Apennines (Italy). Land 2023, 12, 79.
• Vittori Antisari, L.; Trenti, W.; De Feudis, M.; Bianchini, G.; Falsone, G. (2021). Soil Quality and Organic Matter Pools in a Temperate Climate (Northern Italy) under Different Land Uses. Agronomy 2021, 11, 1815

  OTHER LEARNING ACTIVITIES

• 1^st European Soil Judging Contest, Alcoy (Spain), 1-5 september 2025.
• Soil genesis, morphology, and classification (Utah State University, 2024, 87 hours)
• Corso di formazione per operatore naturalistico e culturale di primo livello (Emilia-Romagna) (CSR CAI, 2024, 100 hours)
• III course in Statistical methodologies for the Agricultural sciences «Dario Sacco» (Italian Society of Agronomy, 2023)
• Soil management for sustainable agriculture (EJP Soil PhD School 2022)
• Paleosols in the badlands of Civita di Bagnoregio. Evidence of pedogenesis in the plio-pleistocene. Bagnoregio, 15-17 september 2022 (Italian Society of Pedology 2022)
• Vocation of soils and landscapes: tools for reading the territory (AL.FO.N.S.A 2022)
• Publicly owned forests in the Apennine highlands and C sequestration in soils. Cartography and statistics (GIS and R) (AL.FO.N.S.A 2021)
• School of Soil Biodiversity and Bioindication XIII cycle: Biological indicators of soil biodiversity for healthy soils and ecosystem services in response to climate change (Italian Society of Soil Sciences 2021)

  ACADEMIC WORK

• Mar 2026 – present: Research fellow (incarico di ricerca) at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, Italy (supervisor Prof. Gloria Falsone). Deep soils: pedodiversity and carbon stock capacity.
• Nov 2025 – Feb 2026: Research fellow (borsa di ricerca) at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, Italy (supervisor Prof. Gloria Falsone). Pedodiversity and soil C stock of reclaimed areas for non-food purposes.
• Nov 1, 2022 – Oct 31, 2025: PhD student at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, Italy (supervisor Prof.ssa Livia Vittori Antisari). Additionally, co-supervisor of Bachelor and Master theses regarding Soil characterization, soil organic matter and soil quality in mountain ecosystems; teaching assistant on the topic of QGis and R for environmental and pedological analysis (MSc course in Ecosystem analysis and monitoring).
• Sep 2022, Sep 2023 and October 2025: guest lecturer at the Arrigo Serpieri Agricultural High School in Bologna. Courses: Pedology of forest ecosystems and importance of soil organic matter; Soil erosion; soil pH and sality.
• Jul 2025: Invited tutor at Nottingham Trent University (Nottingham, UK). Global Summer school in smart agriculture and future crops. Topic: introduction to Pedology and field soil assessment.
• Aug 2023 – Sep 2023: teaching tutor in the Summer School “Metodologia per la valutazione della pedodiversità e biodiversità nelle aree ai diversi livelli di protezione dei Parchi”.
• Oct 2022 – Sep 2023: teaching tutor in the course “Elements of Pedology” (BSc Natural sciences, UNIBO)
• Apr 2022 – Oct 2022: Research fellow (assegno di ricerca) at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, Italy (supervisor Prof.ssa Livia Vittori Antisari). Pedologic research about the ecological functionality of forest soils in the northern Apennine. Co-supervisor of Bachelor and Master theses in the field of pedology in forest and/or mountain ecosystems. Teaching assistant in the course “Sensitivity and vulnerability of the water-soil system”, on the topic of Qgis and R for environmental and soil analysis.
• May 2021 - Feb 2022: Grant researcher (borsa di studio) at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna, Italy (supervisor Prof.ssa Livia Vittori Antisari). Pedologic research on the quality of mountain and lowland soils.

  OTHER RELEVANT WORKING ACTIVITIES

• 2020 – present: Scientific instructor for the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) Emilia-Romagna Regional Scientific Committee. Lectures and field demonstrations on soil science for hiking guides and candidate Naturalistic and Cultural Operators (voluntary work).
• Mar 2021 – Jan 2023: Pedologist and soil surveyor for Nexteco srl, Thiene, Italy. Description and sampling of over 150 soil profiles in the context of the environmental monitoring of the construction sites of the new Verona-Padua high-capacity railroad.
• Jun 2019 - Jul 2019: Soil surveyor for Geolab onlus, Imola, Italy. Pedological and physicochemical characterization of lowland soils for the assessment of feasibility of the cultivation of walnut orchards.

  AWARDS

• First European Soil Judging Competition – individual. 7^th place out of 32 contestants (2025)
• Soil Science Society of America graduate student oral presentation competition – Pedology division. Second place (2024)
• Italian Society of Soil Science Award 2023, awarded by the scientific committee of the Soil and water health conference in recognition of the particular interest of the communication “Soil health and microbial diversity in highland soils of the Northern Apennines”.
• Thesis award 2021 (Associazione Dottori in Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti ed Ambientali di Bologna). Fourth place.
• Best YOUng PEDologist graduation award (B.You Ped-2021) (Italian Society of Pedology). Second place.

  PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

• VII Eurosoil, Seville, Spain, 8-12 September 2025. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., & Vittori Antisari, L. (2025) Soil mapping in mountain environments: how many profiles? One example from the Apennines (poster presentation)
• EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 28 April- 3 May 2025. Trenti, W., Boettinger, J., De Feudis, M., Vianello, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Mapping soil diversity in mountain areas in a temperate climate: methods to analyse a complex environment. A case study in the Northern Apennines (Italy), EGU25-16820, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-16820, 2025. (oral presentation)
• ASA, CSSA, SSSA Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, USA, 10-13 November 2024. Trenti, W., Boettinger, J. L., De Feudis, M., Vianello, G., & Vittori Antisari, L. (2024) Soil Diversity and Ecosystem Services in the Northern Apennine Mountains (Italy): Tools for Managing a Fragile Environment (oral presentation)
• Centennial of the IUSS, Florence, Italy, 19-21 May 2024. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Gherardi, M., Vianello, G., Vittori Antisari, L.: Surveying pedodiversity: the potential of landscape units in analyzing, monitoring and mapping soil diversity and ecosystem services (oral presentation)
• EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 14-19 April 2024. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., Vittori Antisari, L., Puliga, F., Tabanelli, G., Zambonelli, A., and Gardini, F.: Soil health and microbial diversity in fruit chestnut groves affected by ink disease, EGU24-18278, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18278, 2024. (oral presentation)
• Soil and water health conference, Imola, Italy, 4-6 July 2023. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Soil health and microbial diversity in highland soils of the Northern Apennines (oral presentation).
• EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2023. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Assessment of soil health in orchards of “Rosa Romana” apple of different ages in the Northern Apennines (Italy), EGU23-6945, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6945, 2023. (Oral presentation)
• EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 23-27 May 2022. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Health status Assessment of state-owned forest soils in the northern Apennines (Italy) (oral presentation)
• Sustainable Management of Cultural Landscapes in the context of the European Green Deal (ESSC - Eurecys 2021), Santo Stefano di Camastra, Italy, 10-14 November 2021. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., Vittori Antisari, L., "Influence of lithology on soil organic matter" (poster presentation)
• Workshop Soil conservation and environmental protection, Imola, Italy, 6–8 September 2021. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., Vittori Antisari, L., "Influenza della litologia sulla sostanza organica del suolo" (oral presentation)

  PRESENTATIONS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCES

• Congresso SISS 2025, Portici, 11-12 Dicembre 2025. W. Trenti, M. De Feudis, L. Vittori Antisari J. Boettinger. “Suoli, pedodiversità e servizi ecosistemici nell’Appennino Settentrionale: strumenti di machine learning per conoscere e gestire un territorio fragile” (poster presentation)
• OpenDistal 2025 GTI suolo. La Salute del Suolo e del Territorio nell’Antropocene. Bologna, 24 settembre 2025. W. Trenti, J. Boettinger, M. De Feudis, L. Vittori Antisari, “Machine learning per la tutela del suolo e della biodiversità” (oral presentation)
• VI Convegno AISSA under40, 5-7 Giugno 2025, Portici (NA). W. Trenti, J. Boettinger, M. De Feudis, L. Vittori Antisari, “Digital soil mapping in mountain environments: insights into soil genesis, diversity, and evolution”. (oral presentation)
• OpenDistal 2023 Workshop GTI suolo. Protezione e salute del suolo per combattere la crisi ambientale. Bologna, 22 settembre 2023. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Vianello, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Determinazione della vocazionalità dei suoli: il caso del castagno (oral presentation).
• Terzo Convegno Congiunto Suolo, Pianta, Ambiente “Sinergie nel sistema suolo-pianta per la tutela dell'ambiente e la sicurezza alimentare”, Palermo, 12-15 settembre 2023. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Il rapporto isotopico dell’azoto come descrittore della degradazione della so-stanza organica in suoli montani. (poster presentation).
• Congresso SISS 2022, Roma, 5-7 ottobre 2022. Livia Vittori Antisari, William Trenti, Mauro De Feudis, Gianluca Bianchini e Gloria Falsone: Qualità del suolo e pool della sostanza organica in un clima temperato (Italia settentrionale) con diversi usi del suolo (oral presentation).
• Open Distal 2022, Workshop GTI suolo. Il suolo: una risorsa fondamentale nella transizione ecologica, Bologna, 29 giugno 2022. Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Fal-sone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: BosChiAMo: Innovazione tecnologica e sequestro del carbonio nella gestione dei demani forestali dell'alto Appennino modenese. Caratterizzazione pedologica (oral presentation).

  ORGANIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

• 7-8 Jul 2027 (upcoming): AISSA-Under40 (Bologna). Conference (organizing committee)
• 8-11 Sept 2026 (upcoming): IV convegno congiunto SICA – SISS – SIPE (Bologna). Conference (organizing committee for the scientific excursion)
• 4-6 Jul 2023: Soil and water health (Imola). Conference (organizing committee)
• Oct 2022 – Dec 2022: Alla scoperta del suolo tra scienza e bibliografia nelle collezioni della Biblioteca di Agraria “G. Goidanich” (Bologna). Exhibit about the history of Pedology in Italy (scientific committee)
• 21-23 Jun 2022: Rural landscapes, land suitability, excellence of agricultural production (Imola). Conference (organizing committee)
• 6-10 Sept 2021: Soil Conservation and environmental protection (Imola). Conference (organizing committee)

  ROLES IN SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS

  • Club Alpino Italiano: member of the Regional Scientific Committee (Emilia-Romagna) since April 2025; Naturalistic and Cultural Operator since February 2025; member of the Sectional Scientific Committee (Modena) since September 2020
  • Italian Society of Soil Sciences. Division IV commitee: Environmental and social role of soil (Jan 2023 – Dec 2024)

  MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

  • Società Italiana di Pedologia (SIPe) since 2021
  • Società Italiana di Scienza del Suolo (SISS) since 2021
  • Associazione Italiana delle Società Scientifiche Agrarie (AISSA) since 2021
  • International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) since 2021
  • European Geosciences Union (EGU) since 2022
  • Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) since 2024

  LANGUAGES

• Italian native
• English advanced, professional
• Spanish advanced, not professional

CONTACTS

william.trenti2@unibo.it [mailto:william.trenti2@unibo.it]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-trenti-bbb1a118a/

Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-alimentari. Viale G. Fanin 40, 40127 – Bologna