Umair Riaz, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Soil & Environmental Sciences at MNS University of Agriculture Multan, Pakistan. Dr. Riaz also served as a Scientific Officer for six years in the Soil and Water Testing Laboratory for Research, Pakistan, specializing in waste management, metal toxicology, phytochemistry, and phytoremediation. Dr. Riaz’s research interests are related to the development of new fertilizer technology based on nanochemistry with an emphasis on plant nutrition. He is the author of many research papers and book chapters, and he has presented and participated at numerous conferences, seminars, workshops, and symposia. Dr. Riaz has worked as a research associate in Higher Education Commission (HEC) funded projects regarding field studies. He has received many awards and recognitions for his services to the science of soil, water, pesticide, and fertilizer testing analysis.Khalid Rehman Hakeem, PhD, is Professor at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He previously worked as a lecturer at the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India, at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor. Dr. Hakeem has more than 14 years of teaching and research experience in plant eco-physiology, biotechnology and molecular biology, medicinal plant research, plant-microbe-soil interactions, as well as in environmental studies. He is the recipient of several fellowships at both national and international levels. He has served as a visiting scientist at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. Currently, he is involved with several international research projects with government organizations. A prolific author and editor of books, book chapters, and journal publications, he is on the advisory board of Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK. He is also a fellow of the Plantae group of the American Society of Plant Biologists, member of the World Academy of Sciences, member of the International Society for Development and Sustainability, Japan, and member of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology, Korea.
