Relationship Between Microbes and the Environment for Sustainable Ecosystem Services, Volume 2

Dr. Jastin Samuel (PhD) is working as Assistant Professor leading waste valorization research lab at Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India. He has more than a decade experience in R&D. He has been an active part of DST, EU-DBT, and CSIR-funded projects. He was awarded the prestigious CSIR-SRF fellowship in Engineering (ENG42) in 2013. Along with his team, he has developed lab-scale mine wastewater treatment system for opencast mines at Orissa, India; established ETP tertiary treatment facility for two industries (sugar industry and distillery industry) with reuse and business proposition in Andhra Pradesh, India, that is, approved by CPCB; established a water treatment facility at Pondicherry in PPP mode with the State Government. He is presently working on pathway assessment and mitigation of Micro and Nano-plastics. He has been a member of review boards of various journals and conferences in India and abroad. Ajay Kumar is currently an Assistant Professor at the Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, India. He previously served as a Visiting Scientist at the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel (2018–2022), and completed his doctoral research at the Department of Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, focusing on plant–microbe interactions. Dr. Kumar’s research expertise spans plant–microbe interactions, microbial biocontrol, postharvest fruit disease management, microbial endophytes of medicinal plants, and cyanobacteria–pesticide interactions. He is a prolific author in leading international journals and is also actively engaged in academic editing with major publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, CRC Press, and Wiley. Dr. Kumar currently serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology and BMC Microbiology, a Guest Editor for Microorganisms and Plants (MDPI), and a Series Editor for Plant and Soil Microbiome (Elsevier). Dr. Joginder Singh is a Professor in the Department of Botany at Nagaland University, Lumami, India. His previous positions include a professorship at Lovely Professional University's School of Bioengineering and Biosciences and a Young Scientist role at Jai Narain Vyas University's Microbial Biotechnology and Biofertilizer Laboratory (funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India). He is a member of several scientific societies, including the Association of Microbiologists of India and the European Federation of Biotechnology. Dr. Singh has an extensive publication record, with over 250 research and review articles, 35 edited books (with publishers like Elsevier and Springer), and 125 book chapters. He is a reviewer for numerous prestigious journals. He has actively participated in and presented at numerous national and international scientific events.

• 1. Effect of pollution on sediments and their impact on the aquatic ecosystem2. Impact of Emerging Contaminants on Biological Wastewater Treatment Process3. The potential role of microbes in the treatment of contaminated water bodies: Current trends and Case Studies4. Microbial removal of triarylmethane dyes: a sustainable approach for the aquatic ecosystem services5. Role of Biofilms to Curb Contamination in Water Bodies6. Potential of Microbes for Degradation of Xenobiotics: With Special Focus on Petroleum Hydrocarbons7. Microbes as an effective tool to mitigate emerging pollutants8. Microbial strategies to address nano pollutants in the environment9. Removal of emerging pollutants from the environment through microbes10. Waste Management through Bioremediation Technology: An Eco-friendly and Sustainable solution11. In situ Bioremediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil12. Genetically modified microbes as an effective tool for sustainable solid waste management13. Indigenous microorganisms as an effective tool for in-situ bioremediation14. Role of Insect Microbiota in Decomposing Urban Waste15. Processing of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Enhanced Products