Dr. Sheetal Ambardar is Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu involved in teaching post graduate students of Microbiology discipiline at School of Biotechnology. Her expertise lies in omics technologies such as microbiomics, genomics, transcriptomics, high throughput sequencing techniques and bioinformatics analysis for decoding the Saffron microbe associations. She has hands-on experience on all the three sequencing platforms available such as first-generation, second-generation Illumina, Ion proton and third generation PacBio and nanopore sequencers along with its bioinformatic analysis.
She was the first to report the genome and microbiome of “Saffron Crocus sativus L, the heritage crop of JK”. Microbiome analysis led to the identification of plant growth promoting bacteria from saffron rhizosphere and cormosphere that when reintroduced in saffron plant invivo resulted in enhanced saffron plant growth. She has a postdoctoral experience of about 10 years which resulted in 17 research papers in peer reviewed journals of international repute, 5 book chapters and 2 edited books published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG: Springer International Publishing house.
She has been awarded with the national level doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships in life sciencessuch as CSIR NET – JRF (2007, 2009), INSPIRE-AORC (2010), UGC-MKU-NRCBS (2012),DST-SERB-NPDF (2016), DST Women Scientist A (2019). Gold-medlist and distinction holder in M.Sc. in Microbiology from Jammu University.
She has also been able to generate extramural grants upto the tune of ~73 lakhs wherein 3 projects have been sanctioned by state and national level funding agencies such as DST, GoI (DST Women Scientist -A), DST-SERB, GoI (NPDF) and JKSTIC, and two in house project from University of Jammu, after intra- university competition.
