Satish Chandra Pandey is a researcher whose area of expertise is microbiology, molecular parasitology and immunology specifically looking at attenuated vaccine and drug target against protozoan parasite Leishmania. He has completed his M.Sc. in Microbiology From G.B.P.U&T Pantnagar U.S Nagar India. He joined Kumaun University a couple of years ago as a Research Assistant at Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, department of Zoology Kumaun University SSJ campus, Almora, (Uttarakhand), India. Currently he is pursuing Ph.D in Biotechnology and also working as a Guest Faculty at department of Zoology Kumaun University SSJ campus, Almora, (Uttarakhand). His Ph.D work is focused on the identification of drug targets and development of live attenuated vaccine against lieshmaniasis. He has published various research articles and book chapters in very high rated international journals. Veni Pande is a researcher whose area of specialization is microbiology, molecular biology, bioremediation, biodegradation, plant microbe interaction etc. She has completed her M.Sc. in Microbiology from Kumaun University, Nainital, India. Currently she is pursuing Ph.D. in Biotechnology from same University and also working as a Faculty member at Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ campus, Almora, (Uttarakhand) India. Her Ph.D. work is focused on biodegradation and bioremediation of toxic industrial dyes. She has published various research articles and book chapters in reputed international journals. Diksha Sati is working as a Research scholar at Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, (Uttarakhand), India. She has completed her M.Sc. in Zoology from the same college and is presently pursuing her doctoral studies. Her area of interest is Agricultural Microbiology, Plant growth promotion, Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Stress tolerance, etc. She has authored various publications in peer-reviewed journals Mukesh Samant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology’s Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory at Soban Singh Jeena University, Almora, Uttarakhand, India. He earned his PhD from the Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He has more than four years of postdoctoral experience at Laval University, Quebec, Canada, and more than 20 years of research experience of Leishmania biology, microbiology, immunology, molecular parasitology, bioremediation, and rhizosphere microbiology. He has published more than 45 research papers in highly reputed international journals. He has reviewed publications for various international journals like Scientific Reports, Vaccine, Parasitology, Journal of Immunology, and Frontiers in Microbiology. He is currently working on live attenuated vaccine and drug development against various parasites and viruses and has completed two research projects in this area.

• 1. Beneficial microbes for sustainable agro-ecosystem 2. Rhizosphere manipulations for sustainable plant growth promotion 3. Quorum sensing in plant-microbial interaction 4. Microbial services for the mitigation of biotic and abiotic stresses in plants 5. Microbial engineering and applications for the up-liftment of agro-environmental system 6. Biofertilizers: a sustainable eco-friendly approach for plant and soil health management 7. Biocontrol: an efficient solution for sustainable agriculture and food production 8. Environmental pollutants and their impact on agriculture and food system (food poisoning and its effect on food safety) 9. Microbial waste management strategies for sustainable environment 10. Involvement of omics approaches during bioremediation of environmental pollutants 11. Microbial enzymes and their application in biotechnology 12. Microbial consortia and their application for environmental sustainability 13. Recent advances on in-silico approaches for the removal of environmental pollutants 14. Environmental deterioration and its effect on human health 15. Microorganism as a source of antimicrobials 16. Nanotechnology and its application in agriculture, environment and human health 17. Recent advances in biofilm formation and their role in environment protection and health 18. Human microbial interaction-microbes in us and their role in human health and disease 19. Antibiotics: action mechanism and modern challenges 20. Drug resistance in pathogenic microbes