Food and Agro-Industrial Wastes

Mika Sillanpää is a professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research centers on chemical treatment in environmental engineering, environmental monitoring, and resource recovery from waste streams.

Sillanpää received his M.Sc. (Eng.) and D.Sc. (Eng.) degrees from the Aalto University where he also completed an MBA degree in 2013. Since 2000, he has been a full professor/adjunct professor at the University of Oulu, the University of Eastern Finland, the LUT University, the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Johannesburg.

He has received numerous awards for research and innovation. He is the first Laureate of Scientific Committee on the Problems of the Environment (SCOPE)’s Young Investigator Award, which was delivered at the UNESCO Conference in Shanghai 2010 for his “significant contributions, outstanding achievements and research leadership in Environmental Technological Innovations to address present water pollution problems worldwide, especially with regard to wastewater treatment and reuse”. In 2011, he was invited to act as a Principal Scientific Reviewer in the GEO-5 report of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). In 2012, he received Tapani Järvinen Environmental Technology Award and Publication Award of the Lappeenranta University of Technology. In 2014, he received the Science Award of the Lappeenranta University of Technology and Pro Mikkeli Award. In 2018, he was invited as a Member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters and Technology Academy of Finland. He also received Literature award from the Water Association of Finland in 2018.

Moharana Choudhury is an Indian researcher and environmentalist. He is currently serving as a research coordinator in the Environmental Research and Management Division of "Voice of Environment" (A Scientific and Environmental Research Organization) in Guwahati, Assam, India. Choudhury has worked on various scientific projects across multiple government departments and has more than 14 years of experience in environmental research and services. He began his career as a research intern at the National Institute of Disaster Management in New Delhi, followed by a Junior Research Fellow position at the North Eastern Space Application Center (Department of Space, Government of India/ISRO Unit). Choudhury has authored or edited more than fifteen (15) books with internationally reputed publishing houses and more than 45 articles in internationally reputed journals, proceedings, and more than 65 book chapters. He has written many articles and scientific reports in popular magazines. He has been working as an editor and reviewer for various prestigious international publishing houses worldwide, including Elsevier, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Springer, Frontiers, Wiley, CRC Press/Routledge, Apple Academic Press, and Cambridge Scholar Publishing. Choudhury is working on various environmental conservation activities in Assam and throughout the country. He has worked on several initiatives to integrate environmentally sustainable projects into iconic heritage places, wetlands, and ecotourism spots in Assam, India, especially to promote cleanliness and combat single-use plastic pollution. He contributes to various environmental research, management, social media, mass awareness, and research studies. He is also well known in India for his efforts to implement environmental education and safeguard the privileges of environmental degree holders in India. He has completed his education with an MSc, PGDGIS, PGDEM, and PGCGARD from Gurukul Kangri Deemed to be University, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, Meghalaya, Tezpur University, Assam, and the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRDPR), Hyderabad, India, respectively.

Srijan Goswami is a research coordinator at the Biomedical Research and Allied Sciences Division of Voice of Environment (VoE), in Assam, India. He has authored and edited several Environmental Sciences and Public Health Books (PG-Research category) and is currently pursuing Ph.D. in Biotechnology at the University of North Bengal. Dr. Goswami has around 11 years of experience in the field of teaching and research, and has published four books, and over 40 research papers in national and international journals. His research focuses on environment-public health connections, extraction and characterization of bioactive compounds from food wastes, nutrition nanobiotechnology, nutraceuticals, and functional foods.