Dr. Ravindra Kumar is a Senor Scientist (Plant Pathology) at Crop Protection Division, ICAR-Indian Wheat and Barley Research Institute, Karnal-132 001 (Haryana). He obtained his M.Sc. (Ag.) and Ph.D. (Ag.) from the Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He was selected as ARS Scientist in ICAR, New Delhi in ARS-2009 batch. His areas of research interest include Host-Pathogen Interaction, Fungal Pathology, Biological Control of Phytopathogens, Mycology, Seed Pathology, and Plant Disease Management. He has published more than 32 research papers and reviews in reputed national and international journals, and has more than 50 technical and popular articles to his credit. He has also written two text books on plant pathology.
Dr Ravindra Kumar has excellent scientific writing and editing skills. Recently he edited book entitled as "Seed-Borne Diseases of Agricultural Crops: Detection, Diagnosis & Management" published by Springer, Singapore. He has edited several technical bulletins and annual reports. He has been associated with several professional/research societies of national and international repute.
Dr. Imren Kutlu received her Ph.D. in quantitative genetics from Eskisehir Osmangazi University of Eskisehir- Turkey, in 2012. She worked as a research assistant in the Agricultural Faculty in Eskisehir Osmangazi University–Turkey between 2007-2019. Following this, Dr. Kutlu became Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Agricultural Faculty, Field Crops Department.
During her Ph.D. she was skilled with quantitative genetics of cereals crops and applying in breeding of cereal yield and quality. In addition, she studied about agronomical techniques of cereals and legumes cultivation. In her postdoctoral studies, she focused on molecular genetics techniques, which helped her study molecular breeding of cereals crops, particularly for abiotic stress tolerance.
Since 2019. Dr. Kutlu has been researching plant molecular genetics, breeding for cereals crops under the different abiotic stress and supervising graduate/undergraduate researchers.
Generally, her research interests focus on the expression of abiotic stress-responsive genes and proteins, physiological and molecular mechanisms of the abiotic stress response, and tolerance. She also studies the effects of organic and inorganic molecules required for plants to coordinate stress responses under various abiotic stresses.
Ph.D. Biology, Boston University. NATO Advanced Study Institute: Molecular Ecology of Aquatic Microbes. NASA Planetary Biology Intern at the Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. Marine Biological Laboratory, Summer Course in Microbial Diversity, Woods Hole, MA
Research Projects include: Microbial Ecology; Plant-Microbe Interactions; Metagenomics; Microbial Discovery; Biogeochemistry.
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. Agricultural Engineer, Institute of Sustainable Agriculture, CSIC, and University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain. July, 1999.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Population biology and biogeography of soilborne pathogens and biocontrol angents in the rhizosphere. Integrated control of plant pathogens; Rhizosphere microbial ecology; Biocontrol; Molecular diagnosis; Metagenomic analysis of microbial populations.
Sapna Langyan is a scientist at ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, India. She holds an experience of more than 11 years in agricultural research. She aims to contribute towards food and nutritional security of the world and alleviating malnutrition through research support. She has more than 30 research papers, book chapters, conference proceedings and many others in reputed national and international journals and also holds editorship of many reputed journals including Frontiers. She has also edited one book on ‘Maize: Nutrition dynamics and novel uses’, published by Springer https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9788132216223. She has been awarded many prestigious awards, fellowship and grants throughout her research career by premier science academies and by the Govt. of India.
Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics, Corn, Tomato, Soybean, Wheat-Rye Translocation
Associate Professor in Plant Physiology at the Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece. My research interests lie in the field of Plant Stress Physiology and I’m particularly interested in studying how plants cope with degraded irrigation water and soils. Focus is given on the effects of cyanotoxins-rich irrigation water on plant function as well as on how enhanced levels of potentially harmful trace elements in soil affect plant performance, in the phytoremediation context. Recent research projects include the study of crop function and the identification of possible stress factors in aquaponics production systems.
Dr. Ivy Sichinga Ligowe is a researcher within the Department of Forestry at Mzuzu University in Malawi.
Her research interests include, Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture, Agricultural Development, Soil Fertility and Analysis, Plant Nutrition, and Crop Production.
Anja Linstädter is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cologne and head of the Range Ecology and Management Group. Her research focuses on global change impacts on managed terrestrial ecosystems. She is particularly interested in the interactive effects of global change agents - such as grazing and drought - on the functioning of African drylands, and in consequences for ecosystem service delivery. Ultimately, her research aims at designing ecosystem-based management strategies.
Dr. Erica Lumini is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council of Italy. Her general area of research focuses on Environmental Microbiology, and more specifically:
• Interaction between soil microbes (nitrogen-fixing actinomycetes; EM ectomycorrhizal fungi; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, AMF) and plants of agricultural and forestry interest.
• Molecular characterization of symbiotic endobacteria and microorganisms associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.
• Molecular ecology, biodiversity and soil microbial networks (prokaryotes, eukaryotes) in natural and agroforestry ecosystems (soils subjected to land-use gradient).
Research Asst. Professor, Marine Sciences, Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (2003-2017); Postdoctoral fellow, MPI – Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany (2000-2003); Research assistant and postdoctoral associate, Civil Engineering Dept., Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. (1994-1999); PhD, Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin - Madison (1994); BS (1984) and MS (1986), Biology and Marine Microbiology, University of Massachusetts - Boston.
Research projects include: new methods to directly link species identity with carbon source utilization; direct profiling of microbial communities without PCR; direct detection of microbial enzymes in environmental samples.
My research focus is in using quantitative methods to precisely understand how soils function and change- spatially, and through time.
I research methods for comprehensive digital soil mapping aiming to characterize soil both in the lateral and vertical dimensions.
I research methods for quantifying (and validating) measures of uncertainty for these comprehensive soil information systems.
I investigate innovative systems for soil measurement, which includes that associated with remote and proximal and soil sensing instrumentation. I have particular interest in infrared and x-ray spectroscopy.