Prosopis Juliflora

Pratiksha Patnaik received a 1st class Masters degree in Ecology and Environmental Science in 2006 from Pondicherry University, India. She later received her PhD there in 2018 in Environmental Technology. Dr. Patnaik is currently working as a Research Associate at the Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering in Pondicherry University. Tabassum-Abbasi has received her BTech, MTech, and PhD degrees in instrumentation and control engineering, environmental engineering, and environmental technology, respectively – all from Pondicherry University. She too has been a class topper throughout, receiving gold medals. She has been working as Assistant Professor at the University ofPetroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun since January 2019, attaining senior grade (Level 2) in 2022, and selection grade (Level 3) recently. She has spent an year (2023- 24) in post-doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh as a British Council Women in Science Fellow. Besides research papers on bioprocess engineering and sustainability in highly cited journals, she has received three patents, and has registered another two. S. A. Abbasi, presently Distinguished Professor, School of Advanced Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun, has earlier been a full university professor and director (1987- 2015), and Emeritus Professor (2015-2024) at the Centre for Pollution Control and Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University. Prior to it he was the founder Head of the Water Quality & Environment Division at the Centre for Water Resources, Kozhikode (1979-87), and a Visiting-cum-adjunct Professor at California State University (1984- 1987). He has also been a Visiting Professor at the universities of Minnesota, Florida, Nevada, California−Berkeley, Malaya and Al-Ahsa.Prof Abbasi is considered among the world’s foremost experts in the fields of bioprocess engineering, process safety, and environmental engineering. Among numerous coveted honours and awards received by Prof Abbasi are the National Design Award in Environmental Engineering, the IPCL award for Safety and Hazard Management in Petroleum Industries, the National Hydrology Award, the International Desalination Association’s prize, The Trever Kletz award, and fellowships of the National Academy of Sciences and the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers.

• 1. Prosopis: Systematics, origin, and spread2. The stellar role of Prosopis juliflora in its original habitat3. Attributes behind the invasiveness and the colonizing ability of Prosopis juliflora