Dr. Prasann Kumar, assistant professor cum research intensive faculty in the Department of Agronomy, School of Agricultural (ICAR-Accredited), Lovely Professional University, Punjab, specializes in stress physiology, plant tissue culture, physiology of plant?microbe/pathogen interaction, and biodiversity management. Dr. Kumar has completed the International Agricultural Rural Development Programme from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States. He has received a doctorate from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He also has authored 40 books published by national and international publishers, which find a place in national as well as various Overseas Institutions libraries. He has guided 19 MSc students for their thesis. Prof. Veena Chaudhary is working as an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Meerut College, Meerut, affiliated with CCS University, Meerut. Dr. Chaudhary is deeply attached to chemistry, with a specialization in environmental chemistry. She has to her credit more than 50 research papers, 2 book chapters, and 20 abstracts. She received numerous awards, including a Young Scientist Award, a Fellow Scientist Award, and numerous others, for her contributions to the environmental field for the advancement of the social, welfare, and agricultural sectors. She is a life member of several scientific societies. She also visited abroad several times to attend international conferences and seminars for the purpose of gathering and sharing scientific knowledge. She is handling several research projects funded by DST, UP-CST, and higher education in Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Eric D. van Hullebusch is currently working as a full professor in biogeochemistry of engineered ecosystems at the Universite Paris Cite and Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (Paris, France). He has published more than 280 papers in scientific journals with peer review, has coedited 10 books, and is coauthor of more than 25 book chapters. His research activities are mainly focused on the three following topics: study of metals and metalloids biogeochemistry in engineered ecosystems (e.g. bioreactors) mainly dedicated to wastewater treatment for pollution control and resource recovery; investigation of the role of living organisms on the weathering of materials and minerals (concrete materials, natural and industrial glasses, metal sulfides, end of life products, WEEE and wastes such as metallurgical wastes for resource recovery, and so on); and remediation of soils contaminated by organic contaminants (bioremediation, enhanced soil physicochemical treatments, and so on). Dr. Rosa Busquets is currently working as an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Faculty of Health Science Social Care and Education, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road Campus, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom. She works toward pushing the barriers of analytical chemistry and achieving significant improvements in monitoring molecules of special environmental relevance. Rosa is a specialist in chromatography-mass spectrometry and in the analysis of complex matrices. She is particularly interested in environmental monitoring and remediation. She carries out research to remove contaminants that pose a major threat to ecosystems due to their toxicity and high mobility and can therefore contaminate fresh water and affect our health. Nanoparticles, pesticides, plastic degradation products, and pharmaceuticals are among these contaminants. xxx About the editors Kumar-BECS- Dr. Arun Lal Srivastav is an Associate Professor at Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh (India). He received PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India. Also, he has done postdoctoral research at National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. He is currently involved in teaching environmental science, waste management, environmental engineering, disaster management, and design thinking to undergraduate engineering students. His research interests include water quality surveillance, climate change, river ecosystem, soil health maintenance, engineering education, phytoremediation, and waste management. He has published 86 SCI/SCOPUS research publications in different prestigious journals, books, and conferences. He has edited many books with prestigious publishers including Elsevier, Springer, Nova, IGI Global, and Wiley. Moreover, he is also working on four government-sponsored projects (worth approximately 16 million INR) on phytoremediation, adsorption, capacity building, organic farming, leachate treatment, agro-waste management, and so on. Also, 12 Indian patents have been granted in his credit on multidisciplinary topics.
