Plastic and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Innovative Solutions to Mitigate Plastic Pollution

About

Dr. Osikemekha Anthony Anani is a Senior lecturer in the Department of Animal and Environmental Biology Delta State University Abraka Delta State Nigeria. His academic qualifications are B.Sc. (Ed.) (Hons.) Biology and Education (2006) in the prestigious Delta State University Abraka MSc. Environmental Quality Management (2013) and Ph.D. Environmental Quality Management (2017) in the respected University of Benin Benin City both in Nigeria. His areas of proficiency are pollution studies ecotoxicology ecology forensic and aquatic biology hydrobiology benthology malacology ecological and health risk valuation and conservation of plants and animals. Dr. Anani has over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications in international and national scientific journals. 11 presentations at local and international conferences. 66 Scopus papers and over 12 Web of Science. He leads a research group in the laboratory for hydrobiology and ecotoxicology at the same university which focuses on environmental sustainability and pollution monitoring. Dr. Mohd. Shahnawaz is currently working as an Assistant Professor on contract basis at Government Degree College Drass A constituent College of University of Ladakh Ladakh India India. In 2022-23 session he worked as an Assistant Professor on contract basis at the Department of Botany University of Ladakh Kargil Campus Khumbathang Kargil Ladakh UT India. In 2021 he got selected as an Associate Professor at Biofuel Institute School of the Environment and Safety Engineering Jiangsu University Zhenjiang China. In 2020 he got selected as a postdoc fellow at Yeungnam University South Korea. He has several years of teaching and postdoctoral research experience. Dr. Shahnawaz worked on diverse fields of life sciences: viz. Tissue culture of medicinal plants genetic diversity assessment medicinal plants using high resolution molecular marks enhancement of Plant secondary metabolites contents and biodegradation of plastic. He completed his M.Phil. (2010) and PhD (2016) from the Department of Botany Savitribai Phule Pune University Pune Maharashtra India. He is recipient of various fellowships awarded by the SPPU (M.Phil. and PhD stipend) UGC-BSR (Meritorious Fellowship) UGC-MANF (JRF/SRF) and DST-SERB (NPDF). His research interest is in Ecology Microbiology Plastic Bioremediation Plant Biotechnology Plant Secondary Metabolites Drug Discovery and Integrative Medicine.  He has served as a reviewer and editor for several international journals and had received the Young Scientist Award (2019) from VDGood Professional Association at Vishakhapatnam India. He has published 25 research articles 19 book chapters and 13 books of international repute with 1200 plus citations. Dr. Mudasir Ahmad Dar is working as an Associate professor at Jiangsu University P.R. China. Dr. Mudasir Dar has extensive theoretical knowledge and operating experience related to host-microbe interactions in insects including termites. He is pioneering in elucidating the mechanism of lignocellulose degradation in different gut-regions of insects and snails. He has more than 8 years of research experience related to gut-microbiome analysis in Insects snails and termites. He is currently working on the biofuel production from lignocellulosic wastes by using gut symbiotic bacteria of termites. He has more than 40 papers published in peer-reviewed international-indexed journals of high repute. He is a recipient of many national and international research grants such as Research Fund for International Young Scientists National Natural science Foundation of China China Postdoctoral Organization etc. He is serving as an Editorial board member of many journals including BMC Microbiology besides acting as a reviewer of several high quality peer-reviewed international journals such as Environmental technology and innovation Bioenergy research Comparative biochemistry and physiology-C Environmental science and pollution research Archives of Microbiology to name a few. He is a rank holder of many national and international awards such as CSIR-UGC-NET with All India Rank 41 and 101 conducted by the CSIR-HRDG Govt. of India. He is a recipient of many Fellowships like Maulana Azad National Fellow UGC-UPE phase II fellow etc. He has a well-documented multidisciplinary research background from gut-microbiology to environmental biotechnology with a critical problem-solving approach. Dr. Daochen Zhu is currently working as a Professor at Biofuel Institute School of the Environment and Safety Engineering Jiangsu University Zhenjiang China. Previously he had served as an Associate Professor and Assistant Professor at the same University.  He has earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Biochemistry from Kobe University Japan (2008). He has completed his B.S. in Fermentation Engineering from Dalian Polytechnic University China (2004). During the tenure of his career he also worked at Washington State University USA as a Visiting Scholar (20152016). He is a recipient of numerous awards and funding which support his research at Jiangsu University China. Dr. Zhu is a recognized guide for M.S. students. He is a reviewer and editorial board member of various peer-reviewed journals of international repute. His research group mainly focuses on microorganism resource and diversity lignin biodegradation and chemicals product and biodegradation of organic pollutants. He is also interested in the mitigation of microplastic through bioremediation technology. Dr. Zhu has 50 peer-reviewed publications 12 patents and 4 book chapters and 4 edited books to his credit with international repute.