Dr Girija K Bharat, Director, Mu Gamma Consultants Pvt Ltd. has about 25 years of experience in conducting research on Water Supply and Sanitation, Water Quality Assessment, Water Resource Management and Environmental Management. She was a Fellow and Area Convenor of Water Resources Division of TERI till February 2015. Prior to joining TERI, she was a Presidential Scholar at George Mason University, Virginia, USA, where she has conducted innovative research on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). She has also been a Scientist in Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, CSIR.

She has a Ph.D. in Chemistry (Water Quality) and has authored 48 research and technical papers, book chapters, articles and policy briefs related to water and sanitation, water quality issues and published in reputed National and international journals such as Environmental International, Science of Total Environment, Environmental Pollution, Science Development Network, CNN-IBN, One World South Asia, American Chemical Society publications and others.

Rajnish Kumar, Ex-CEO of Fullerton Securities, a Wealth Advisory and Investments company owned by Temasek in India. Temasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the Government of Singapore and manages a net investment portfolio of S$266 billion mainly in Singapore and Asia. He has worked with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank in various senior capacities in the past. Alumnus of National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur and Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.

Rajnish has an entrepreneurial outlook and has demonstrated success in setting up and running new businesses. Some of his areas of interest include – technology in business, analytics, economy and markets, corporate governance and risk management.

Dr. (Mrs.) Asha Ashok Juwarkar has about 33 years of experience in the field of Phytoremediation/bioremediation of degraded lands, Eco-friendly treatment for domestic and industrial wastewater management, soil pollution mitigation, and CO2 sequestration and mitigation. She played a key role in formulation of National Implementation Plan for POPs sponsored by UNIDO, and has expertise in sound management of PCB’s, PBDE’s and Dioxins & Furans. She was Ex Chief Scientist and Head, FNASc, Eco-System Division, and also Ex-Coordinator for Stockholm Convention Regional Centre on POPs for Asia Region at CSIR-NEERI. She was a Fellow at The National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad in 2009.

She has a Post-doctoral fellowship from University of Guelph, Canada, for Molecular Biology under DBT Associateship and Ph.D. (Microbiology) from Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). She has authored 92 research and 30 technical papers in reputed National and international journals. Under Stockholm Convention she was responsible for Projects, Workshops and Awareness programmes such as Capacity Building for Environmentally Sound Management of PCB oil and PCBs Containing Equipments at Ship Breaking Yard, Alang, Gujarat, India, Pilot testing of guidance for the review and updating of National Implementation Plan in India, Electronic interactive toolkit for environmentally sound management of industrial chemicals covered under Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, Capacity building for promoting synergistic implementation of Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Sri Lanka, Awareness programmes on POPs were conducted at different villages in India, Regional Stakeholder’s Meeting on Dioxins/Furans was conducted at CSIR-NEERI as a part of Centers activity.

She is the recipient of many prestigious national and international awards such as, Pitambar Pant National Environment Fellowship Award (MoEF, 2003), Priyadarshani Vrikshamitra Puruskar (CIL, 2000), Dubai International Award (2007) for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment (2007 & 2002), UN – HABITAT Award (MoUD, 2002), CSIR Technology Award (2002), and Women Bhaskar Award by Dainik Bhaskar Group (2012).

Dr Suseel Samuel: A social development professional with Ph.D. degree in Social Work. He possesses knowledge and skills that are backed with extensive experience in policy support, program planning, use of participatory tools, project management, budgeting, programmatic and financial monitoring, training and capacity building of individuals and organizations, technical support to national programs and civil society organizations, networking and advocacy with governmental and non – governmental organizations and social research. 32 years of experience in social development in various sectors, mainly water and sanitation, community development, child development, HIV/AIDS, social research and social work education.

Worked in national and international organizations, projects in partnership with international funding agencies and also with government departments of water supply, sanitation, health and local government institutions in India. Attended several national and international training programs, workshops and conferences on various social development themes.

Dr Debashish Goswami has a Ph.D on water resources management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and post-doctoral research experience in the University of Florida. He also has experience working in various projects in TERI, The World Bank and FAO. His expertise includes Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), agricultural water quality, ecosystem management, wetland conservation, irrigation management, and hydrologic modeling. He has been working in the water sector for over 15 years and has published several peer-reviewed papers in various international journals.

Avanti Roy Basu is a qualified sustainability professional with over 15 years of extensive work experience in designing and implementing multi-dimensional projects/programs on sustainable development issues. She has a Masters’ degree in Environmental Science and MBA-equivalent Post Graduate diploma in environmental management. She has wide experience in working in different roles for organizations ranging from government agencies (like the State Pollution Control Board) to large non-for-profit research organizations (like Centre for Science and Environment, CSE and The Energy and Resources Institute, TERI). Her research, articulation and writing skills are demonstrated by a number of publications. She has contributed to over 40 projects funded by various agencies including multilateral/bilateral organizations, government departments, corporates, non-governmental organizations and research institutions. She has devised and rolled out CSR programs and managed employee volunteers for various corporates. Also, she has wide experience in working with educational institutions on developing their knowledge, skills, and attitudes, with the belief that education can be used as an effective tool for achieving a sustainable world. Avanti has significant experience in networking with range of stakeholders, and enjoys working in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment.

Prof A M Khan, Prof and Head, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi (Retd.) is an expert in behavioural change communication and IEC. He has about 33 years’ experience in various capacities including Director, Regional Director, Professor and Head of Social Sciences and others. He has been a faculty in behaviour change communication, IEC, IPC in Sanitation and is the recipient of Rastriya Gauraw Award.

Prof Purnendu Kanti Das was the Head of the Department of Chemistry, M B B College, Agartala, Tripura. He was felicitated by the Government of Tripura for rendering distinguished service as a professor. He was also the General Secretary and President of Tripura Chemical Society, Tripura. He instituted the ‘Pyarimohan - Labanyaprava Memorial Research Fellowship’ in Tripura University for doing research work in Chemistry. He has published seven books and is presently working on publishing the life and works of Sir C. V. Raman and Madame Curie.

Pallavi Gulati is a sustainable development professional, working in the field of waste management and sanitation for more than 5 years. She has worked with Quality Council of India (autonomous body under Ministry of Commerce and Industry) on Swachh Bharat Mission projects including the flagship Open Defecation Free Assessment of cities (ODF) with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as client. Some other projects include Assessment of Ganga towns on solid waste management parameters, Performance audit of cities in Haryana on municipal solid waste management and State level toilet surveys. Prior to QCI, she has worked with TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) in the Environment and Waste management division on various audit and consultancy based projects. She is a Post-Graduate from TERI School of Advanced Studies in Sustainable Development Practices and a Graduate from Delhi University.

Anoop Balachandran is a graduate from the Urban Planning program at Texas A&M University, Texas, USA, and has experience in sustainable development, urban planning, environmental planning and renewable energy. He brings on board his experience and education through his time in an interdisciplinary academic environment and stints with think tanks. As a young professional, Anoop is keen on developing his career in the Renewable Energy sector.