Dr Shoichiro Hamamoto is currently serving as an Associate Professor in Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo, and also is a former Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University. His research interests are related to understanding and modelling mass (gas including bubble form, solute, water, and colloid) and heat transport in soils. He has over 60 publications with a main emphasis on gas transport in porous media. He is also a recipient of the prestigious early-career award from the Soil Science Society of America in 2013. He is a member of the Soil Science Society of America, the Japanese Society of Soil Physics, the Japanese Geotechnical Society, Japanese Society of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition.