Nanobiostimulants: Emerging Strategies for Agricultural Sustainability

Dr. Vandana Singh (Ph.D.), an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Sharda School of Allied Health Sciences of Sharda University, holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology. She earned her M.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Pune, Pune(India) and then She completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Noida International University, Noida (India). With over 14 years of teaching and research experience, her areas of expertise include Microbiology, Environmental microbiology, Food microbiology, Microbial nanotechnology, Nanomaterials, and microbial biotechnology. Her passion for microbiology is evident in her dedication to producing good-quality research, leading to numerous publications in the form of research articles, review papers and book chapters, in peer-reviewed and reputed journals. Her research interests focus on Microbial Fuel cells, Wastewater Treatment, Biological Wastewater Treatment, Environmental Biotechnology, Bioremediation of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Biodegradation, Biofilms production, Biosurfactant production, remediation of pollutants etc.

Dr. Rouf Ahmad Bhat (PhD) has pursued his doctorate at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir (Division of Environmental Sciences) and presently working in the Department of School Education, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. Dr. Bhat has been teaching graduate and postgraduate students of environmental sciences for the past 3 years. He is an author of more than 55 research articles (h-index 30; i-index 49; total citation 3167) and 40 book chapters, and has published more than 40 books with international publishers (Springer, Elsevier, CRC Press Taylor and Francis, Apple Academic Press, John Wiley, IGI Global). He has his specialization in Limnology, Toxicology, Phytochemistry, and Phytoremediation. Dr. Bhat has presented and participated in numerous state, national, and international conferences, seminars, workshops, and symposium. Besides, he has worked as an associate environmental expert in World Bank-funded Flood Recovery Project and also the environmental support staff in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded development projects. He has received many awards, appreciations, and recognition for his services to the science of water testing, air, and noise analysis. He has served as an editorial board member and a reviewer of reputed international journals. Dr. Bhat is still writing and experimenting with diverse capacities of plants for use in aquatic pollution remediation.

Dr. Gowhar Hamid Dar (PhD) currently works as Assistant Professor in the Higher Education Department, Govt. of J&K and is currently posted in Govternment Degree College Kulgam where he serves as Head, Department of Environmental Science and Coordinator, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC). Before this he was posted at Govternment Sri Pratap College Srinagar, the oldest higher education institution of the UT of J&K, India. He has a PhD in Environmental Science with specialization in Environmental Microbiology (Fish Microbiology, Fish Pathology, Industrial Microbiology, Taxonomy and Limnology). He has been teaching postgraduate and graduate students for the past many years at Postgraduate. He has more than 70 research articles (h-index 17; i-index 24; total citation >1000) in international and national journals of repute and a more than 20 books with international publishers (Springer, Elsevier, CRC Press Taylor and Francis, Apple Academic Press, John Wiley, IGI Global) to his credit. Moreover, he supervises several students for the completion of degrees (PhD/Postgraduate). He has been working on the Isolation, Identification and Characterization of microbes, their pathogenic behaviour and impact of pollution on development of diseases in fish fauna for the last several years. He has received many awards and appreciations for his services towards the science and development. Besides, he also acts as a member of various research and academic committees. Further, Dr. Dar is Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator for different R&D projects sanctioned by Government of India and Government of Jammu and Kashmir.