Kandikere R. Sridhar is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University and Yenepoya (deemed to be) University. His main areas of research are 'Diversity and Ecology of Fungi of the Western Ghats, Mangroves and Marine Habitats'. He has been NSERC postdoctoral fellow/visiting professor in Mount Allison University, Canada; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ and Martin Luther University, Germany; Centre of Biology, University of Minho, Portugal. He is Fellow of the Indian Mycological Society, Kolkata (2014), Distinguished Asian Mycologist (2015), etc. and is considered among the top scientists in the world in mycology.

Sunil K. Deshmukh is a veteran industrial mycologist who spent a substantial part of his career at Hoechst Marion Roussel Limited and Piramal Enterprises Limited. He is a fellow of Mycological Society of India (MSI) and served as Adjunct Associate Professor at Deakin University, Australia and worked towards the development of natural food colors, antioxidants and biostimulants through nanotechnology intervention.