Role of Microbial Communities for Sustainability

Gamini Seneviratne, Senior Research Professor, National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Hantana Road, Kandy, Sri LankaJ. Shezmin Zavahir, Teaching Associate & Analytical Chemistry Researcher, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC, Australia Professor Gamini SeneviratneProfessor Seneviratne received his PhD from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and the University of Sydney, Australia, where he is also a visiting professor. Currently, he is a senior research professor at the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Sri Lanka. He directs a novel field of research where microbial biofilms are developed for various biotechnological applications, including the world-first Biofilm-based biofertilizer biotechnology. He is a member of Soil Science Society of America, American Society for Microbiology, and a former editor, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (Elsevier). He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in Sri Lanka. J. Shezmin ZavahirJunaida Shezmin Zavahir (J. S. Z. Ismail) received a BSc (Microbiology) and MSc (Biotechnology), from the Bangalore University, India. She is a PhD researcher in Analytical Chemistry at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and a Teaching Associate at its Faculty of Science. Her current research interests include gas chromatographic and infrared analysis of biofuels and essential oils, preceded by research on fungal-bacterial biofilm based biofertilizers. She has extensive experience as an analytical chemist of Alternate fuels. The recipient of numerous international and national awards, Shezmin is a member of the Chemicals and Plastics Innovation Network Industry Partnership, Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.