Ashwani Kumar, PhD, is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany at the University of Allahabad (A Central University), Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. Before joining this position, he worked at Dr. Hari Singh Gour University (A Central University), Sagar, India, for more than nine years. His research focused on plant-microbe interactions, metagenomics, lignocellulosic biofuels, and bioremediation. Honored with several awards and fellowships throughout his career, he has published over 80 articles (Google Scholar Citations: 6469; i-10:71, h-index: 36; Scopus citations: 4067), 30 book chapters, and edited one book. He is serving as an editorial board member for several prestigious journals. He has been featured in the top 2% of the World Scientists List thrice (2020, 2021, 2022). He is a life member of several professional organizations in India, and he was elected as a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, the International Society of Environmental Botanists, and the
