Robin Duponnois is an outstanding research director at IRD, a member of the French Academy of Agriculture, and he manages the Laboratory of Tropical and Mediterranean Symbioses in Montpellier (UMR LSTM. CIRAD / INRAE / IRD / AGRO-M / Montpellier University). His work focuses on the role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in the productivity and stability of tropical and Mediterranean agro-ecosystems.  His scientific output attests to 629 scientific references, including 164 A-rank articles, 44 non-indexed articles, 66 book chapters, 6 books, 337 oral or poster communications, and 12 patents He has an H-index of 30. His research objectives are to understand the role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in soil bio-functioning in order to make the most of this microbial resource in the rehabilitation of degraded environments. After spending several years in West Africa (Senegal, Burkina Faso) and North Africa (Morocco), he was able to demonstrate, in situ, the value of enhancing this fungal symbiosis in order to improve the productivity of agro-ecosystems but also to conserve the endemic plant diversity of these environments. Convinced of the importance of training and the use of research findings for development in many southern LDC countries, he has made a major contribution to the training of young researchers and the creation of innovative companies in Senegal, Madagascar, and Morocco.