Dr. Mohammad Yaseen Mir, Department of Education J&K earned his M.Phil and a Ph.D in Botany with a specialization in plant biotechnology on the topic “Role of elicitors for in vitro induction of secondary metabolites in suspension cultures of Artemisia amygdalina D. from the University of Kashmir, India. He was awarded Doctorate Merit Scholarship by University of Kashmir to pursue his Ph.D programme is also subject course expert for Environmental science Approved CEC-Moocs by MHRD GoI New Delhi. He has previously worked as a senior researcher in Research project funded by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF & CC), Government of India along with G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development under National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS). 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.Dr.Saima Hamid is a Program Officer in EIACP with Government of India. She holds a Doctorate as well as Master's Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Kashmir, India. Her research area includes Plant molecular biology, stress adaptations, bioactive compound isolation and characterization, climate change and microbial biotechnology. She has published in highly reputed and peer-reviewed journals. She is the Co-founder of CERD Foundation, Research and Educational Non-profitable Charitable Trust that aims and encourages to develop communities with scientific temperament towards education and research in the society. We offer platform and access to the resources for multiple programs: research projects, seminars, conferences, awareness camps, relief works and public policies etc. She is also a member of various international organisations that focus on plant adaptations and climate change and has presented at international forums. She was awarded Doctorate Merit scholarship by University of Kashmir to pursue the Ph.D program. Dr. Reddy, Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, USA. holds a Ph. D. in Integrated Pest Management with a specialization in Biological Control and PGPR from the Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University. He completed Post Doctoral training in the Department of Botany at the University of Toronto,. He worked as a Senior Scientist and R & D Global Manager for industries such as ExxonMobil, Agrium, Cominco fertilizers, Allelix etc. conducting multi-disciplinary, comprehensive research in the area of biological control of soil-borne diseases, IPM, biofertilizers & biofungicides (PGPR), induced systemic resistance, organic agriculture. He collaborated on several commercial biofertilizers and biofungicides for sustainable agriculture. He has published extensively and participated in successfully organizing International PGPR Workshops, and established a non-profit Asian PGPR Society of Sustainable Agriculture to enable various agricultural disciplines to meet regularly in Asian Countries and discuss teaching, research and commercialization of PGPR’s.
