Friends, there are 43 days left to the Central Asian Climate Change Conference and we are pleased to introduce you to the speakers.
Dr. Ljubov Joanna Liman, Finnish Meteorological Institute, will make a presentation on "Gap analysis of climate services networks in Central Asia" at the session "Climate Services".
Ljubov Liman, Research Scientist, Finnish Meteorological Institute
Ljubov Liman has 30 years of experience in operational meteorological observation systems, including automatic meteorological stations, upper-air observations, meteorological radars, lightning detection systems, satellite observations, etc. She has been working in the FMI since 2001 of which 15 years actively participates in International projects on modernize National meteorological observation networks in countries like: Lithuania, Estonia, Jamaica, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Equator, etc.
She also performs extensive work on the development of meteorological observation services at Finnish Meteorological Institute. She participated in updating the network of automatic meteorological stations of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and participates in the development and use of new dual-polarization Doppler radars. She is member of FMI Radar Team, 2008 – current. Object of the team is to exchange internal knowledge, prepare proposes for necessary measures and projects, representation in regional radar networks (NORDRAD, BALTRAD and OPERA) and co-operate with other international weather radar projects (GPM with NASA, POMO by TEKES).
She also has 10 years of experience at the upper-air station Voeikovo, Roshydromet.
Since 2018, she has been an international consultant on the CAMP4ASB project. During the project was viewed proposal on installation/upgrade of climate monitoring systems in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and developed packages of climate monitoring systems hardware in these countries.
Dr. Ram Sharma, CGIAR's Regional Programme for Central Asia and the Caucasus, is expected to speak on the topic of Collaborative work of ICARDA on climate-resilient technologies for improved land and water productivity in Central Asia at the session on Climate Change Technologies and Practices.
Ram Sharma, Regional Coordinator for Central Asia and the Caucasus, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
Ram Sharma is Principal Scientist and Regional Coordinator for Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Prior to joining ICARDA, he was Professor of Plant Breeding at the Tribhuvan University in the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences in Nepal. Prof. Sharma also worked as a visiting scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico.
He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Crop Science from Ohio State University and Oklahoma State University, respectively, in the USA.
He has over 30 years of experiences in agricultural research and education covering diverse fields of crop improvement, agronomy, plant pathology, crop physiology, biometrics and biotechnology.
He has been working in Central Asia since 2008. He coordinates ICARDA’s collaborative research in the CAC region on crop germplasm exchange and improvement, provides scientific backstopping, and supports capacity building of the researchers and development of new cultivars of cereals and legumes suitable to the climate and farming systems in the CAC region. His research collaborations in the CAC region have identified 17 improved winter wheat varieties that combine high yield, improved quality and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In particular the new wheat varieties with resistance to stripe rust, a devastating fungal disease threatening food security in the region, eliminate or minimize the application of fungicide, save production coast, and protect environment and human health.
Olivier Langrand will speak at the session "Climate Finance", Executive Director, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).
Olivier Langrand joined the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) in January 2015. As the Executive Director he coordinates a team of 16 professionals who are responsible for grant making to enable civil society groups conserve biodiversity in the hotspots of the planet. Since 2000, CEPF has granted $232 million to 2,300 civil society groups in 93 developing countries and territories located in 24 biodiversity of the world’s 36 hotspots. These grantees have achieved very substantial results in terms of protecting threatened species and vital natural ecosystems while improving civil society capacity and human well-being.
Prior to it, Olivier spent three years with Island Conservation as the Director of Global Affairs. He was responsible for Island Conservation’s engagement with governments, bi- and multi-lateral institutions and international conventions with the mission to prevent extinction of threatened species from islands.
Olivier spent 11 years with Conservation International based first in Cape Town (South Africa) and Washington (USA) where he occupied the function of Senior Vice President in charge of the Africa and Madagascar Program and finally the position of Executive Vice-President responsible to the Center for Conservation and Government.
Olivier spent 17 years in the field in various regions of the African continent, especially when working for WWF-International. He lived in Madagascar (12 years) when working in the Indian Ocean islands, in Gabon (5 years) when in charge of an eight-country conservation program in the Congo Basin.
Olivier holds a MSc in Zoology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Follow our news, where we will tell you about other speakers of the Central Asian Climate Change Conference.
Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB)