RootS Research Group

ROOTed Soils (RootS) is an international and multidisciplinary research network dedicated to advancing the understanding of Soil–Vegetation–Atmosphere (SVA) interactions and their role in governing the behaviour of natural and engineered geotechnical systems.

The network brings together geotechnical engineers, agronomists, soil scientists, plant scientists, hydrologists, atmospheric scientists, ecologists and numerical modellers with the common goal of developing a comprehensive understanding of the coupled physical, hydraulic, mechanical and biological processes occurring within the rooted soil environment.

RootS promotes the integration of experimental investigations, field monitoring, laboratory testing and advanced numerical modelling to improve the characterization and prediction of SVA processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Particular attention is devoted to identifying the material properties, constitutive relationships and governing parameters that control the evolution of the environmental domain formed by soils, vegetation and the atmosphere.

The initiative originated in 2022 and has rapidly grown into an international scientific community through a series of annual conferences (RootS23, RootS24 and RootS25), bringing together researchers from different disciplines and institutions. These meetings have established the foundations of a collaborative research network aimed at fostering interdisciplinary research, sharing knowledge and developing innovative approaches for addressing the challenges posed by climate change, geohazards and sustainable geotechnical engineering.

Today, RootS represents a growing international community committed to building a common scientific framework for Soil–Vegetation–Atmosphere interaction and promoting collaboration among academia, research institutions and industry.