Dr. Rafiq Lone is currently an Assistant Professor of Botany at SBBS University, India. He completed his M.Sc and Ph.D. in Botany at Jiwaji University, India and has worked as a lecturer (academic arrangement) in higher education in Jammu and Kashmir, as a teaching assistant at the School of Studies in Botany, Jiwaji University, and as a fellow in a project funded by MPCST-Bhopal-(M.P)-India.  Dr Lone has 5 years of teaching and 10 years of research experience, and has published 25 research papers in national and international journals, as well as 14 book chapters. Dr Lone has attended 25 national/international conferences and has presented papers on plant microbe interaction, plant nutrition and plant phenolics. He has received numerous awards. His research interests include on plant-microbe interaction, plant nutrition, plant phenolics and invasion biology.

Dr Razia Shuab completed her M.Sc., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Botany at Jiwaji University, India, and received an N-PDF (SERB-DST, GOI) from the University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir. Dr Razia has 1 year of teaching and 7 years of research experience. She has published 18 research papers in national and international journals, as well as 5 book chapters. She has attended 12 national/international conferences and has presented papers on plant phenolics and invasion biology.

Prof. Azra N. Kamili is currently a Professor of Botany at the Center of Research for Development, University of Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. She completed her M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Botany at the University of Kashmir and has significantly contributed to various fields of botany, and her current research focuses on plant tissue culture, microbial ecology, stress biology, plant microbe interaction and molecular biology. She has 30 years of teaching and 35 years of research experience. She has attended 30 national and international conferences and is /has been the principal investigator /co-principal investigator/mentor of 16 major research projects supported by various funding agencies, like DST, ICAR, DBT and UGC. She has also published 8 books and over 170 research papers in respected journals. She was a member of the Syndicate of the University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, of the J&K Biodiversity board and of the Academic council, SKUAST-K.