Kannan Pakshirajan is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. He researches on biological removal of heavy metals and xeonobiotics such as phenolics, dyes, polycyclic aromatic compounds, perchlorate, etc. from contaminated water, air and soil, and resource recovery, mainly biofuels, from waste materials. He is a recipient of many awards and honours, which include besides others Hiyoshi Young Leaf Award, BOYSCAST Fellowship (by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India), Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Award for Young Scientist, National Academy of Sciences India (NASI) Young Scientist Award, Bioresource Technology Journal Top Reviewer Award (by Elsevier Publications). He has authored and co-authored over 90 peer-reviewed journal publications, produced seven PhDs and currently guides nine PhD students.