Kristine Tovmasyan

International

Kristine Tovmasyan is leading the UNESCO Natural Sciences unit in Central Asia sub-region at UNESCO office in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Her activities focus on promoting sustainable environmental development through greater scientific knowledge and international cooperation across Central Asia in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, as well as working through UNESCOs intergovernmental programmes in sciences, such as International Hydrological Programme (IHP), Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP). Prior to joining Almaty, for almost nine years Kristine worked on disaster risk reduction, notably from geohazards, in Natural Science Sector, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. She holds a PhD degree in geology from the University of Latvia. She also enhanced her skills in post-graduate studies as a visiting student at Earth Sciences centre, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Norway and Colorado School of Mines, USA.


DMITRY PETRAKOV

International

Dmitry Petrakov has been working on mountain glaciers, mountain hazards, including glacier hazards, debris flows, floods and snow avalanches and climate change. In last 20 years he took a part in field campaigns across the mountains of Russia (mainly Caucasus, but also Altai, Kamchatka, Khibiny, Urals, Siberian and Far East mountains), Georgia, Norway, Sweden, Central Asia, South America (including Peruvian and Patagonian Andes), St Elias Mts (Canada), China (many regions). He has participated in several national and international research programs, including Swiss National Science Foundation, Swedish Research Council, NATO Science for Peace program and Joint FAO/IAEA Programme “Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture”, National Natural Science Foundation of China, United Kingdom Royal Society and Russian Foundation for Basic Research. He is a member of the Debris Flow Association, member of the Standing Group on Glacier and Permafrost Hazards in Mountains (GAPHAZ), IACS, member of the Glacier Ice Thickness Estimation working group (IACS).


VASILIY KAPITSA

Regional

Vasily Kapitsa is a researcher at the Glaciology Laboratory of the Institute of Geography of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He is engaged in studying the components of the cryosphere, of the runoff formation zone (glaciers, snow cover, buried ice, stone glaciers) and high-altitude lakes and the related risks, as well as studying the climatic conditions for the evolution of glaciers, ablation and runoff of Mountain Rivers in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. He is a member of the several national and international research programs, such as: “The evolution of snow cover of th zone of river flow formation of the Balkhash-Alakol river basin in a changing climate, as a factor for water security and sustainable development”, “Solutions to secure clean water in the glacier-fed catchments of Central Asia – what happens after the ice?” and Central Asian Research and Adaptation Water Network (CARAWAN)”. He has been actively involved in more than 10 years field studies in the mountains of South-East Kazakhstan (Ile Alatau, Zhetesu Alatau, Kungey Alatau). In addition, he is a member of the research group of the State Agency for Mudflow protection of Kazakhstan for assessing the risks of glacier lakes outburst floods.