Simon Guerrero-Cruz is an environmental microbiologist and climate mitigation researcher with a very international career and background in Europe and Southeast Asia. His career is devoted to methane mitigation from human-created and human-mismanaged ecosystems such as wastewater and sewage systems, rice cultivation, and small artificial water bodies. To achieve methane mitigation, his work focuses on developing microbial, management, and engineering solutions to reduce methane emissions while enhancing the natural methane sink: methanotrophs. His work in methane oxidation has been recognized with the Seal of Excellence by HORIZON2020 in 2018 and awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship in 2019.

With more than ten years of experience in academic research and international project leadership, Simon has served as principal investigator and collaborator in multi-country consortia such as MicroSPARK, MicroGRICE, and MicroSOS. The project MicroSPARK seeks to reactivate methanotrophic activity by looking into ecosystem micronutrient deficiencies in paddy soils, while MicroGRICE aims to look into enhancing the microbial communities with beneficial microbes to enhance nitrogen retention and minimize methane emissions. MicroSOS looks into beneficial microbes to support crops in their struggle against climate-derived impacts such as salinity, drought, and climate-triggered biological stressors. These initiatives have secured over €2.4 million in funding from European, Nordic, and Asian donors, advancing knowledge on microbial greenhouse gas mitigation, soil resilience, and climate-smart agriculture with partners from 9 countries in Europe and Asia.

Simon is deeply committed to capacity building and inclusive collaboration. His work has contributed to the dissemination of mitigation action to the future environmental engineers and managers from over 30 nationalities from the Global South. Beyond academia, Simon actively engages in the science–policy interface, engaging in international initiatives, global GHG assessments, and other movements with intergovernmental organizations such as UNEP, UN ESCAP events, and climate NGOs. His work exemplifies interdisciplinary, impact-driven sustainability science.