As Associate Professor of Environmental Geography at the University of Tours (France), in the Planning & Environment Department, Francesca Di Pietro works on plant biodiversity in anthropogenic environments, at first in agricultural landscapes, later in urban ones. Her research focuses on plant communities of urban habitats such as public green spaces, urban wastelands, roadsides, community and individual gardens. Since 2011 she has worked on urban wastelands, coordinating work on their plant communities, informal uses, and how they are perceived.

Amélie Robert is currently a contract researcher and part-time lecturer at the University of Tours. Her research focuses on landscape dynamics, the identification of their drivers and ecosystem services, from a geohistorical perspective. More generally, she questions the interrelationships between societies and their environments in different contexts. She pays special attention to novel ecosystems, particularly in urban contexts, having contributed to several research programs in this field.