Professor Dr. Christopher Conrad leads the Department of Geoecology at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography of the Martin Luther University of Halle (MLU), Germany. His research addresses geoecological and management questions of agrarian land use systems with a regional focus on Central Asia. Both, his PhD and habilitation thesis addressed sustainable land and water use in irrigation systems of the Aral Sea Basin. Key methods are remote sensing and geoinformation sciences. Before joining MLU, he worked as Junior Professor for Geographical Remote Sensing of the University of Wuerzburg, Germany. Numerous publications and project activities underline his experience in Central Asia. For instance, Prof. Conrad was involved in the initiative “Water in Central Asia” (2009-2019) of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and also partners the successor Initiative “Green Central Asia”. His department also operates “CASIB – Central Asian Sustainable Innovation Bureau”, the Client-II office of the German Ministry of Research and Education in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Ms. Anna Inozemtseva is IWRM Lead in the USAID Regional Water and Vulnerable Environment Activity, implementing by Tetra Tech ARD Inc. She is working on institutional strengthening of the basin organizations and promotes instruments and tools for long-term scientific based planning. In cooperation with Stockholm Environment Institute, USAID Regional Water and Vulnerable Environment Activity is facilitating the Robust Decision Support process in the region, using WEAP and LEAP models for Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins, and Anna is leading the process. She has a Master degree in Integrated Water Resources Management. She started her professional career in the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) in 2008 and has 14 years of experience in IWRM promotion in Central Asia. She has a strong expertise in introduction of basin planning on local level in Central Asia and Afghanistan, facilitating regional dialogues over shared water resources and promotion of water diplomacy at all levels of water management.

Dr. Mirdadayev graduated from Taraz State University, specializing in Automobiles and the automotive industry (1993-1998), completed his PhD in the direction 06.01.02 - Melioration, reclamation and land protection (2010). At the moment, he is the scientific supervisor and responsible executor of 12 scientific studies and 9 economic contract topics on the design of water supply and irrigation systems, was a national consultant on water management under the national extension program on agriculture (2011-2012), a member of the interstate working group, researcher of the project for the reconstruction of the joint Kazakh-Chinese water intake facility on the Sumba River (2014-2015), head of the expert group for assessing the state of the facility “Machine water supply from the Chardara reservoir to irrigated lands of the Maktaaral district of South Kazakhstan region (2016), expert in the development of educational programs in the specialties “Construction and operation of treatment facilities for water supply and sanitation systems” and “Hydrotechnical Reclamation” (2018-2019), National Water Expert for the Asian Development Bank’s Flood Management / Agricultural Productivity Program (2018-2019), Program Manager for the Development of Training Materials c and conduct training on water management and irrigation and drainage systems (2018-2021).