Команда

Nana Baramidze

GEF Cryosphere Project Manager

Nana is the GEF Cryosphere Project Manager at UNESCO Almaty Regional Office, with extensive experience in environmental management, policy development, governance, and sustainable development across Central Asia and beyond. She has held multiple leadership roles at working on environmental policy, economic security, and governance. She has led climate change and air quality assessments, advised governments, and contributed to initiatives on natural resource governance. Her academic contributions include creating and launching the first MSc in Environmental Management and Policy at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. She has also worked with such institutions as OSCE, UNDP, USAID, NDI, DAI, WB projects, Aga Khan Foundation, Universities, and served as a Strategic Affairs Advisor to Georgia’s Minister of Environment. Nana holds advanced degrees in environment and natural resource management, international studies, public administration, and fine arts, along with a certification in coaching from Erickson Coaching International.

Dr Elena Osipova 

Programme Specialist for Natural Sciences in the UNESCO Almaty Office

Elena Osipova is the Head of Natural Sciences Unit at UNESCO Almaty Regional Office coordinating UNESCO’s work in Central Asia across a diverse portfolio of topics, from UNESCO designated sites, such as Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks, to integrated water resources management, to promotion of science, technology and innovation. Elena is a biologist and a nature conservation specialist with nearly 15 years of experience. Prior to joining UNESCO, Elena worked at the European Environment Agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature on internationally designated protected areas. Elena holds a degree in biology, a PhD in plant ecology and a Master’s degree in Sustainable Resource Management. She is a co-author of several scientific publications in the field of protected areas management, ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation.

Alua Kulzhabayeva

GEF Project Financial and Administrative assistant

Finance & Administrative Assistant for the GEF Cryosphere Project. She possesses a mix of corporate financial and social projects’ management experience, and a passion for the betterment of social and environmental conditions. Her professional experience includes implementing development and resilience-building projects in Central Asia, South-East Asia and Europe. She holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Warwick, UK

Dr Larissa Kogutenko

GEF Project National Coordinator for Kazakhstan

Larissa is the AF-GEF Project national Coordinator for Kazakhstan at UNESCO Almaty Regional Office. Her main research interests are climate change in Central Asia and its impact on water resources and ecosystems. She is an author and co-author of the series of publications on glacier degradation in Tien-Shan Mountains and other Central Asia regions, water resources and climate change adaptation. Larissa holds a master’s degree in Hydrometeorology from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Kazakhstan) and PhD in Climate System and Climate Change in Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (China). Over the past decade, she has experience working as a researcher and project manager with national and regional partners in Central Asia in the frame of the various water and climate-related projects supported by GIZ, UNDP, SDC, and USAID.

Nazgul Sharshenova

GEF Project National coordinator for Kyrgyzstan

Nazgul is the AF-GEF Project National Coordinator for Kyrgyzstan. She has worked extensively on donor-funded initiatives in Kyrgyzstan with UNICEF, UNDP, UN Women, and the Asian Development Bank. Prior to joining the team, she managed diverse portfolios spanning WASH, fire safety and disaster risk reduction, environmental health, early warning systems, and emergency preparedness. Her leadership on regional uranium legacy mitigation, climate adaptation, and community resilience projects—supported by the Governments of Japan, USAID, the EU, and Sweden—has had a wide-ranging impact across Central Asia. Nazgul holds degrees in linguistics, business enterprise, and international relations.

Kudratkhon Bakhadirov

GEF Project National Coordinator for Uzbekistan

Kudratkhon joined UNESCO in 2022. He is responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of projects and achieving the desired programming and development outcomes in Uzbekistan. He is responsible for implementing the projects' activities in Uzbekistan under the direct supervision of the Head of the UNESCO Office in Tashkent and in close coordination with the AF and GEF Projects' Managers. Kudratkhon graduated from the joint European Master's Programme in Materials Science and he holds DSc degree in technical sciences from Tashkent State Technical University. Since 2007 Kudratkhon has been involved in a number of international scientific and educational projects.

Khurshedmo Aknazarova

GEF Project National Coordinator for Tajikistan

Khurshedmo Aknazarova, a disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation specialist, has amassed over 15 years of experience in development cooperation, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, and environmental protection with local communities, international partners, and government authorities in Tajikistan and Central Asia. Her roles have included working with FOCUS, UNDP, Caritas Switzerland, DAI Global, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. Since June 2024, she has been the UNESCO-AF-GEF Projects National Coordinator for Tajikistan.

Altyntomiris Baltabayeva

GEF Project Communications Assistant

Communications Assistant for the AF-GEF Projects at UNESCO Almaty Regional Office. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Management and Marketing from the University of Leicester. With a background in digital content creation, media, and graphic and web design, she has contributed to various projects by developing strategic communication plans and creating impactful multimedia content.

Martina Barandun

Senior Researcher, University of Fribourg, Switzerland 

I am a glaciologist, interested in different process chains in high alpine and polar environments such as climate-glacier interaction, surface energy balance processes, and hydrology. I have worked in local to regional monitoring (e.g. CATOCS, CICADA) and modelling of the cryosphere. My main approach focuses on combining different methods and observations to improve our understanding of ongoing processes and spatio-temporal change of the cryosphere.

Serikzhan Atanov

Regional project coordinator, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

I am an experienced project/programme manager specializing in transboundary water governance and natural resource management. With over seven years of experience, as part of the team I've helped secure over $12 million for projects in Central Asia and facilitated bilateral agreements on groundwater governance between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.