Javid A. Parray holds a master’s degree in Environmental Science and completed his MPhil and PhD from the University of Kashmir, and qualified for the prestigious JKSLET exam. He also conducted post-doctoral research at Kashmir University and received a Fast Track Young Scientist Project by the Science and Engineering Research Board of the Government of India. He currently teaches at the Department of Environmental Science, GDC Eidgah Srinagar, affiliated with Cluster University Srinagar. His research interests include ecological and agricultural microbiology, climate change, microbial biotechnology, and environmental microbiomes. He is a prolific author and editor of numerous papers and books and serves on the editorial boards of several high-impact journals. A member of various scientific organizations, he received the “Emerging Scientist of the Year” Gold Medal in 2018. Currently, he is the national coordinator for a Swayam Moocs program on Environmental Science. Recently, he was appointed series editor for Microbiome Research in Plants and Soil by Elsevier and serves as the Executive Editor in Chief for the open-access journal Micro Environer.Assistant professor in Department of Environmental Science Cluster University Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, Dr. Shameem’s experience includes Project associate in DBT Sanctioned project entitled “spawn production for the entrepreneurs of Kashmir Valley” at CORD, University of Kashmir. Dilfuza Egamberdieva is a research associate at the Centre of Agricultural Landscape Research, Germany and head of Joint Uzbek-China Key Lab of Ecobiomes of Arid Lands, National University of Uzbekistan. Her research interests include microbial ecology and diversity, plant-microbe interaction, plant nutrition and stress tolerance, and plant biological disease control. She has been awarded the SCOPUS-2019 Award “Top Scientist of the Year”, TWAS (The World Academy of Science) Award in Agricultural Sciences (2013), and TWAS-TWOWS-SCOPUS Young Women Research Award (2009), as well as several Fellowships such as President’s International Fellowship for Visiting Professors (PIFI), The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Georg Forster Research Fellowships, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She is a member of several journals’ editorial board, authored seven books published by Elsevier and Springer, and co-authored over 200 publications in per reviewed journals.

• 1. Biochar-soil-plant-microbe interactions2. Halophyte associated endophytic microbes: potential use in crop production3. Overview of functional metagenomic profiling of root associated bacteria bacteria under salt stress. 4. Microbial Consortium with multifunctional plant growth-promoting attributes: Future Perspective in Agriculture5. Plant root Endophytes: transformers of plant disease6. Use of microbial consortia of PGP bacteria for preventing nematode diseases in plants7. The efficiency of heavy metals-tolerant Bacillus sp. for alleviating heavy metals toxicity on sorghum8. Biofertilizers and their role in plant growth and minimizing environmental impacts9. Bioengineering of rhizobiome towards sustainable agricultural production10. Advancements in understanding plant microbe and microbe interaction11. Role of microbes to enhance underground functioning in high altitude mountain areas 12. Technological advancements and study of Engineered Microbiome in sustainable crop production13. Microbial consortium: utility and delimitation14. Technological intervention in the rhizosphere of tomato plants: a case study 15. Phytomicrobiome in modulating plant - growth and stress resilience: An insight into functions and emerging perspectives in agriculture