Faculty

Dr. Manikprabhu Dhanorkar

Associate Professor and Deputy Head


Research Area: Solid Waste Management, Waste to Energy, Biomethanation, Agricultural
Microbiology and Biotechnology, Mycology, Phytopathology, Product development.

Dr. Manikprabhu Dhanorkar is heading SCWRM since February, 2017. His core area of research include solid waste management, waste to energy and products development form the wasted resources....He is currentlyinvolved in waste management technology/process development and improvementfor effective and sustainable processing of solid waste and wastewater. He is also a techno-commercial expert for waste to energy projects and is technical consultant and advisor to Municipal corporations, Government organizations and industries. Dr. Dhanorkar is involved in creating awareness for waste management and disseminating the low-cost, effective technologies for sustainable waste management in rural community. 
As a researcher, Dr. Dhanorkar’s major contributions in the field of research include-

  • Development of customized pilot scale reactors for processing plastic and waste oil for hydrocarbon generation at Symbiosis International (Deemed University). 
  • Development of a new process of hydrocarbon generation from waste/used vegetable oil. 
  • Development of a bio-culture for accelerated aerobic composting process.
  • Developed ‘NISARGLAXMI’ concept of at-source processing of household organic waste and its dissemination in rural communities for effective at-source management of organic waste. 
  • Process development for biogas digestate conversion to fertilizer products. 
  • Development of biogas digestate-based, enriched, organic manureand Plant Growth Boosting formulation for agricultural use.
  • Development of a business model by integrating indigenous technologies for commercialization of biomethanation technologyfor Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India. 
  • Contribution in development of BIS standards for biogas (IS 16087: 2013)
  • Creation of World’s first “The Fertilizer Encyclopedia”, published nationally and globally by Wiley and Sons. 
  • Development and Incubation of start-ups at Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of Symbiosis Centre for Entreprenurship and Innovation and IIM Calcutta. 


Dr. Pooja Singh

Assistant Professor


Research Area: Environmental Biotechnology, Bioremediation, Biosurfactants, Wastewater Treatment

Dr. Pooja Singh is currently associated with Symbiosis Centre for Waste Resource Management (SCWRM) of the Symbiosis International (Deemed University) as an Assistant Professor responsible for the research activities at SCWRM. ...

She has completed her Ph.D. from the Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR), Chandigarh, and has been working in the field of environmental biotechnology and waste management for over 8 years post her doctoral work.

She was the recipient of the DST-WOS-B grant (2017-2020) and was associated with Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences (SSBS) as a DST Woman Scientist. Her research work focuses on microbial based bioremediation systems for the treatment of wastewater and polluted soil systems. Her specific area of expertise includes studies on microbial biosurfactants for various environmental and biomedical applications. Her current research interest also includes waste valorization and applications of biochar. Dr. Singh has been associated with SCWRM since January 2021. She has over 30 research papers and book chapters in her name, with over 1900 citations and an h-index of 10.

Brief CV:

  • January 2021 to Present: Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Centre for Waste Resource Management (SCWRM), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
  • December 2017 to December 2020: DST Woman Scientist (WOS-B), Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences (SSBS), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
  • March 2016 to December 2017: Research Associate and Teaching Faculty, Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences (SSBS), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India.
  • June 2016 to December 2017: Visiting Teaching faculty, Symbiosis School of Culinary Arts, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India.
  • August 2015 - November 2015: Visiting Teaching Faculty, Symbiosis School of Biomedical Sciences (SSBS), Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.
  • 2001-2007: Ph.D.- Institute of Microbial Technology (IMT), CSIR, Chandigarh, India

Join Us

We always welcome self-motivated, talented and creative people to build our team. Send your CV to info@scwrm.siu.edu.in and we will get in touch with you.