Academics

Bio

Dr. Shikha Gaikwad is an experienced educationist and researcher in the field of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. She holds a B.Sc, M.Sc, and Ph.D in Microbiology, and has over 16 years of experience in teaching, research, and administration. Dr. Gaikwad has developed curriculum for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Microbiology, Biotechnology, and allied fields. Her research focuses on prokaryotic metabolites such as biosurfactants and melanin and exploring their applications in various sectors. She has successfully completed funded research projects and has guided UG and PG students for their projects leading to publications in international journals and prestigious conference presentations.


Research Area
1) Bacterial Metabolites-Biosurfactants, Melanin, Poly hydroxy Butyrate (PHB), Exopolysaccharides (EPS) and Plant Growth Promontory Primary and Secondary metabolites (PGPRs).
2) Bioprocess Engineering: Optimization and production of metabolites in bioreactors. 
3)Applied and Enviromental Biotechnology-Bioremediation, Biodegradation, Biofouling, Bioaugmentation, Microbial Enhanced Oil recovery processes (MEOR), Wastewater treatment by Hydrodynamic cavitation, Formulation of Biocontrol agents and Biostimulants. 
4) Microbial Ecology and Diversity

Publication
1. Treatability study of slurry bioreactor technology for bioremediation of petroleum contaminated soil in Ecology, Environment and Conservation, 25 (3): pp 1429-1434, (2019). 
2. Effect of Orifice Shape on Water Disinfection Efficacy in Pollution Research, 35 (4): pp 765-771, (2016). 
3. Biosurfactants: Types, detection methods, importance and applications in Indian Journal Of Microbiology Research, 3 (1): pp 5-10, (2016).
4. Structural and Functional Diversity of Rhizobacterial Strains Isolated from Rhizospheric Zone of Different Plants of Sholapur-Maharashtra Region, India, in International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 4(9): pp 263-273, (2015).

Google Scholar Link
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&authuser=2&user=pD4ECgoAAAAJ

Scopus Link
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57213928017

Orcid Link
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2426-4978?lang=en