Dr. Kanchit Thammasiri, is an associate Professor and Head, Department of Plant Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok (Thailand). He has made significant contribution in the field of Cryopreservation of Thai Orchids seeds and their micropropagation. His current research involves the orchid breeding and micropropagation of selected genera, such as cattleya alliance, dendrobiums, phalaenopsis and vandaceous-type orchids, and cryopreservation of Thai orchids. He published his research papers in National and International Journals, such as CryoLetters, Acta Horticulturae, Science-Asia, Richardia, Lindleyana and, Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture. He is Member of the American Orchid Society, Florida and also International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS), Belgium.Prof Shaik Mahammad Khasim, is Head, Department of Botany and Microbiology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, India, and formerly chairman, board of studies in Biotechnology. He has made significant contribution in the field of Orchid biology and conservation. He has been working on molecular characterization, biodiversity, micropropagation, ethnomedicine and phytochemistry of orchids. He published good number of research papers in National and International Journals. He is the recipient of the Usha Vij Memorial Award-2018 for his outstanding contribution in orchid biology conferred by The Orchid Society of India (TOSI), Chandigarh. He is an Associate fellow of A.P. Academy of Science (India); Life Member of TOSI, Indian Science Congress Association (Calcutta) and, Member of The American Orchid Society (Florida) and the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), Belgium. Prof. Maria Teresa González Arnao, is a Professor in Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, México since 2004. She has been working on Plant Biotechnology especially in Plant Cryopreservation techniques for last several decades. She has published research papers in National and International journals such as Acta Horticulturae, European Food Research and Technology, HortScience, Cryobiology, Revista Advances en Investigación Agropecuria (AIA), and Journal of Plant Biochemistry & Biotechnology. She also contributed several chapters in technical books published by Springer- Verlag. She is the Member of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS), Belgium.Dr. Sadanand N. Hegde, former Director of Orchid Research & Development Center and State Forest Research Institute, Arunachal Pradesh, (India) has made significant contribution in Orchid taxonomy and conservation. His initial works were on the Cyto-taxonomic studies on the orchids of Western Ghats of India at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and subsequently at the Karnataka University, Dharwad on Cyto and Chemotaxonomic studies in the tribe Epidendreae of Orchidaceae. He explored 600 orchid species from Arunachal Pradesh and registered8 new species as well. During his tenure as a Director, he developed orchids as a supplemntal crop for the tribal farmers of Arunachal Pradesh and other Nort-Eastern States of India. He registered six new hybrid orchids and bred 16 new hybrids. He is recipient of Dr. T. N. Khooshoo Memorial Environment Award (2004) conferred by The Orchid Society of India (TOSI). He is also the Founder Member of TOSI, Chandigarh.
