Advances in Environmental Biotechnology

The book aims to provide a comprehensive view of advanced environmental approaches for wastewater treatment, heavy metal removal, pesticide degradation, dye removal, waste management, microbial transformation of environmental contaminants etc.

With advancements in the area of Environmental Biotechnology, researchers are looking for the new opportunities to improve quality standards and environment. Recent technologies have given impetus to the possibility of using renewable raw materials as a potential source of energy. Cost intensive and eco-friendly technology for producing high quality products and efficient ways to recycle waste to minimize environmental pollution is the need of hour. The use of bioremediation technologies through microbial communities is another viable option to remediate environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals, pesticides and dyes etc.

Since physico-chemical technologies employed in the past have many potential drawbacks including higher cost, and lower sustainability. So there is need of efficient biotechnological alternatives to overcome increasing environmental pollution. Hence, there is a need for environmental friendly technologies that can reduce the pollutants causing adverse hazards on humans and surrounding environment.

Dr. Raman Kumar is working as Associate Professor in Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markendeshwar University, Mullana (Ambala), Haryana, India Since 2011. He has also worked as Senior Research Fellow, Division of Soil and Crop Management, Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, India from 2007 to 2010. He has experience of about 10 years in the field of Teaching and Research in the area of Microbial and Environmental Biotechnology. He has published more than 30 publications in Various National and International Peer Reviewed Journals. He developed many bacterial and fungal strains for removal of heavy metals from wastewater. His current research areas are Bioremediation and Biodegradation of toxic pollutants, Pesticides and azo dyes using microbial consortium from the industrial Effluents, Mechanism involved in the heavy metal bioremediation.

Dr. Anil K. Sharma is a full Professor and Head of the Department of Biotechnology with about 15 years of Teaching and Research experience after PhD. He did his doctorate from PGIMER Chandigarh (Year 2000) in the field of Medical Biotechnology. He worked as a Senior Research Scientist and a Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Molecular biology) in the Microbiology and Immunology Department at UIC College of Medicine Chicago, IL, USA for about 7.5 years. He has more than 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals of national and international repute with a cumulative impact factor of his publications around 115. He has won many prestigious awards and accolades in his career. In 2000, He was felicitated with a MGIMS Young Scientist Award from Association of Clinical Biochemists of India (ACBI) while in 2013 he won the Bharat Excellence Award from FFI, New Delhi, India for his research accomplishments in basic sciences. His research interests are diverse ranging from understanding the metal regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, drug resistance, cancer biology, nanomedicines to thedevelopment of microbial strains for remediation of heavy metals and pesticides.

Dr. Sarabjeet Singh Ahluwalia is presently working as an Assistant Professor at Department of Biotechnology, at General Shivdev Singh Dewan Gurbachan Singh Khalsa College, Patiala, Punjab (India). He did his M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Punjabi University Patiala, Punjab (India) and Ph.D. from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology Patiala, Punjab (India). He has 22 years of research experience including ten years of teaching microbiology, environmental Biotechnology, Microbial Technology for graduate students. Dr. Ahluwalia has published 25 research papers in peer reviewed international and national journals in addition, he has presented 33 research papers in conferences and symposia along with three patent in his credit. Dr. Ahluwalia has reviewed a number of research papers/manuscripts. Dr. Ahluwalia has received the Grants from UGC, Govt. Of India, New Delhi and CSIR, NewDelhi for research projects.

Further, he has developed the technology for the removal of Cr (VI) from chrome effluent. Besides that, he is a fellow Member of Research Journal of Chemistry & Environment as well as a life member of Biotechnology Research Society of India, Association of Microbiologist of India, and Punjabi Academy of Sciences. His research intrests are in the field of Environmental Biotechnology, Bioremediation, and Environmental monitoring.