Biotechnological Approaches for Sustaining Forest Trees and Their Products

Dr. Dennis Thomas T.

Dr. Dennis Thomas T. has been a Professor in the Dept. of Plant Science, School of Biological Sciences, Central University, Kasaragod, Kerala, India, from January 2016 onwards. Prof. Dennis obtained his Doctoral Degree in Botany with a specialisation in Plant tissue culture and reproductive biology from the University of Delhi, in 2000, after his graduation and post-graduation from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala.

He has completed three postdoctoral research fellowships in various fields of plant biotechnology from the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 2007-08, Hokkaido University, Japan, in 2009, and Medical University, Poland, in 2013. He had been to Hokkaido University, Japan, as a Visiting Associate Professor in 2014. He was faculty in the Postgraduate and Research Department of Botany, St. Thomas College, Pala, Kottayam (Dt) Kerala from 2000-2016 and was actively engaged in research work and teaching.

He received a BOYSCAST Fellowship 2006-07 to carry out advanced research for one year at the Department of Botany, University of Hamburg, Germany. He has been the recipient of the INSA Visiting Scientist award repeatedly for three years. He was awarded the DST young scientist's project in 2003. He has to his credit more than 100 research articles in national and International journals/seminars/symposia and two books. He has membership in various scientific societies and is a reviewer and editorial board member of various International and National journals. He has handled externally funded projects from DST, KSCSTE, and UGC and guided many postgraduate students and Ph.D. scholars.

Dr. M. K. Razdan

Dr. M. K. Razdan retired as the Principal of Shyam Lal College, a constituent of the University of Delhi. Before this, he was Vice Principal at Ramjas College (another constituent of the Delhi University), where he taught for more than three decades. Besides teaching students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, Dr. Razdan was Head of the Botany Department and subsequently Co-ordinator of add-on courses on 'Biotechnology' as well as 'Environment Management and Law' at the institute. He also worked as a Visiting Scientist at USDA's Vegetable Laboratory Beltsville Agriculture Research Centre, Maryland, and later at the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, USA.

Much earlier, Dr. Razdan was awarded a prestigious Commonwealth Bursary by the Royal Society, London, which enabled him to do postdoctoral research in the laboratory of world-known plant scientist Professor E.C. Cocking, FRS, on plant cell and tissue culture, including somatic cell genetics, at the Department of Botany, University of Nottingham, UK. Post retirement Dr. Razdan served as a Visiting Facility of Life Sciences at IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University), New Delhi and Advisor at Shyam Lal Charitable Trust, Delhi, India. He has publications in reputed research journals, guided students for Ph.D./M.Phil., refereed research papers for publication in scientific journals and published several books with reputed publishers like Elsevier and Science Publishers. These books have received good reviews in international scientific journals and can be accessed in libraries the world over.

Dr. Razdan was a Joint Editor and Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cytology and Genetics and has had the honour of being elected as a Fellow of the Society of Cytologists and Geneticists (FSCG). He was invited to visit Moscow in 1993 to deliver lectures and exchange scientific experience at various institutes under the Russian Academy of Science. He was invited to visit China in 2018 to deliver lectures. He has been a Member of the Delhi University Academic Council and a Member of the Delhi University Court.

Dr. Ajay Kumar

Dr. Ajay Kumar is working as an Assistant Professor of Plant Science at the Central University of Kerala, India. He obtained his PhD from the School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where he worked under the guidance of Dr. Nirala Ramchiary, a renowned crop scientist. During his PhD, he worked on various aspects of different species of Capsicum, including capsaicinoids, and has published important papers on Capsicum and capsaicin. Dr. Ajay has more than seven years of teaching and research experience and has published several research/review articles and book chapters in reputed journals and books. He has recently edited two books with Springer Nature. He has been a member of the Academic Council and is currently a member of the University Court of the Central University of Kerala. He is a member of several academic bodies, including the Board of Studies, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Central University of Kerala. His research areas include phytochemical genomics, medicinal plants, mangrove adaptation, food security and abiotic stresses. He has successfully guided more than 30 Post Graduate students in their dissertations. He has completed a major research project funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. His lab is funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and Indian Council of Social Science Research, Government of India.

**德尼斯·托馬斯博士**

德尼斯·托馬斯博士自2016年1月起擔任印度喀拉拉邦卡薩拉戈德中央大學生物科學學院植物科學系的教授。德尼斯教授於2000年獲得德里大學植物學博士學位，專攻植物組織培養和生殖生物學，並在喀拉拉邦科泰姆的甘地大學完成了本科和研究生學位。

他在2007-08年於德國漢堡大學、2009年於日本北海道大學以及2013年於波蘭醫科大學完成了三項植物生物技術領域的博士後研究。他於2014年作為訪問副教授前往日本北海道大學。他曾在2000年至2016年間擔任喀拉拉邦科泰姆聖托馬斯學院植物學研究生及研究部的教職，積極參與研究工作和教學。

他於2006-07年獲得BOYSCAST獎學金，在德國漢堡大學植物學系進行為期一年的高級研究。他連續三年獲得印度國家科學院訪問科學家獎。他於2003年獲得DST青年科學家項目獎。他在國內外期刊、研討會和座談會上發表了超過100篇研究文章，並出版了兩本書籍。他是多個科學學會的成員，並擔任多個國際和國內期刊的審稿人及編輯委員會成員。他負責過來自DST、KSCSTE和UGC的外部資助項目，並指導了許多研究生和博士生。

**M.K. 拉茲丹博士**

M.K. 拉茲丹博士曾擔任德里大學附屬的夏姆拉爾學院院長，並於此退休。在此之前，他曾擔任德里大學的另一所附屬學校——拉姆賈斯學院的副院長，並在該校教授超過三十年。除了教授本科生和研究生外，拉茲丹博士還擔任植物學系主任，並隨後成為“生物技術”和“環境管理與法律”附加課程的協調員。他還曾在美國農業部的蔬菜實驗室和馬里蘭州的農業研究中心擔任訪問科學家，之後在美國馬里蘭大學的自然資源科學與景觀建築系工作。

更早之前，拉茲丹博士獲得了由倫敦皇家學會頒發的著名英聯邦獎學金，使他能夠在英國諾丁漢大學的植物學系，與世界知名植物科學家E.C. Cocking教授進行植物細胞和組織培養（包括體細胞遺傳學）的博士後研究。退休後，拉茲丹博士在新德里的印度甘地國立開放大學擔任生命科學訪問教授，並在德里夏姆拉爾慈善信託擔任顧問。他在知名研究期刊上發表了多篇論文，指導學生攻讀博士/碩士學位，並為科學期刊的研究論文進行審稿，還與知名出版社如Elsevier和Science Publishers出版了多本書籍。這些書籍在國際科學期刊上獲得了良好的評價，並可在全球的圖書館中查閱。

拉茲丹博士曾擔任《細胞學與遺傳學期刊》的聯合編輯和編輯委員會成員，並榮獲細胞學家和遺傳學家學會的院士（FSCG）稱號。他於1993年受邀前往莫斯科發表講座並在俄羅斯科學院的各個機構交流科學經驗。2018年，他受邀前往中國發表講座。他曾是德里大學學術委員會成員及德里大學法院成員。

**阿賈伊·庫馬爾博士**

阿賈伊·庫馬爾博士