This year marks the 75th birthday of Amin Ismayil oglu Ismayilov, a prominent scholar in the field of agricultural sciences, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor, and Corresponding Member of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS). Over many years, he has made a significant contribution to the development of soil science. He currently continues his scientific work as the Chief Researcher of the Laboratory of Geospatial Analytics and Cartography at the Institute of Geography of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.

        Amin Ismayilov was born in 1951 in the Kurdamir district. In 1972, he graduated from the Faculty of Hydromelioration at the Azerbaijan State Polytechnic Institute and then pursued postgraduate studies at the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. He defended his Candidate of Sciences (PhD equivalent) dissertation in 1981 and his Doctor of Sciences dissertation in 2003. In 2011, he was awarded the academic title of Professor, and in 2014, he was elected as a Corresponding Member of ANAS.

      He began his career as an engineer and worked for many years in various scientific positions at the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry. From 1997 to 2009, he headed the Scientific-Production Center of the State Land Cadastre and Monitoring at the State Committee on Land and Cartography. He also served as a professor at the Department of Geomatics at the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction and later led a laboratory at the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry. Currently, he continues his research at the Institute of Geography of ANAS.

      Professor Ismayilov’s scientific work encompasses key areas such as soil informatics, geospatial analysis of soil cover, processing soil data in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), development of conceptual diagnostic models of soils, and creation of geoinformation databases on soil-ecological environments. He is among the scientists who laid the scientific foundations for applying GIS technologies in soil research in Azerbaijan.

    Between 1985 and 1988, he participated in international soil research in the Syrian Arab Republic. Upon returning to Azerbaijan, he initiated one of the first projects implementing computer technologies in soil studies, thereby laying the foundation for soil informatics in the country.

Professor Ismayilov’s scientific activity has also been closely linked to practical applications. During the land reform period, while working at the State Committee on Land and Cartography, he made a significant contribution to the establishment of a modern land cadastre system based on advanced technologies. From 2003 to 2005, he was the conceptual author and Azerbaijani director of the Azerbaijan–Switzerland cadastral project.

     Under his leadership, major geoinformation projects have been implemented. In 2012, Azerbaijan’s first digital soil map was prepared using GIS, and a digital salinization map of the Kur-Araz lowland soils was compiled. In 2017, within the FAO’s project “Soil Organic Carbon Map of the World,” a digital map showing Azerbaijan’s soil organic carbon reserves was created.

Amin Ismayilov actively promotes the integration of Azerbaijani soil science into the international scientific community and has long represented Azerbaijan in the UN Global Soil Partnership program.

      The distinguished scholar is the author of more than 180 scientific works, including monographs, university textbooks, atlases, and methodological guides. Under his guidance, numerous PhD candidates and many master’s students have been trained.

      In addition to his scientific activities, Amin Ismayilov is actively involved in public life. From 2017 to 2022, he served as Chair of the Expert Council on Biological and Agricultural Sciences of the Higher Attestation Commission under the President of Azerbaijan, and since 2023, he has been a member of the Commission’s Presidium. In 2021, he was elected a member of the Board of the New Azerbaijan Party at its VII Congress, and in 2024, he was awarded the “100th Anniversary of Heydar Aliyev (1923–2023)” jubilee medal.

The Azerbaijani scientific community sincerely congratulates Corresponding Member of ANAS Amin Ismayilov on his 75th anniversary and wishes him robust health, long life, and continued success in his scientific and pedagogical endeavors.