Speaker Bios
Day 1: Water and Agriculture
Keynote: Alon Tal
Alon Tal is Chair of the Department of Public Policy at Tel Aviv University, and Deputy Chair, KKL-JNF, Israel. He is a leading Israeli environmental activist and academic; founder of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies; and a co-founder of Ecopeace: Friends of the Earth, Middle East; This is My Earth; the Israel Forum for Demography, Environment and Society; Aytzim: Ecological Judaism; and the Green Movement political party.
Panelists
Abeer Albalawneh
Abeer Albalawneh is the director general’s consultant for the Environment and Water Issues in the Jordanian National Agricultural Research Center (NARC). previously was the Director of Environment and Climate Change Research Directorate at NARC.
Full BioMaysoon Al-Zoubi
Maysoon Al-Zoubi until recently has been the Secretary General of the Higher Population Council. She got a bachelor of Engineering at the University of Jordan in 1986. Then, she attended many specialization courses abroad.
Full BioUri Shani
Uri Shani is Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of N-Drip. He is also Professor Emeritus in soil and water sciences at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Full BioAnne Castle
Anne Castle is a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment at the University of Colorado Law School, focusing on western water issues including Colorado River operational policy and the integration of tribal water interests.
Full BioDay 2: Land & Natural Environment
Keynote: Ibrahim Thiaw
Ibrahim Thiaw is Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) since February 2019. Mr. Thiaw brings to the position 40 years of experience in sustainable development, environmental governance and natural resource management.
Panelists
Munqeth Mehyar
Munqeth Mehyar is former Chairman and Jordanian Director of EcoPeace Middle East, a unique regional organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists to promote sustainable development and advance peace efforts in the Middle East.
Full BioMoshe Shachak
Moshe Shachak is an ecologist and Professor Emeritus in the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology at Ben Gurion University. He has a Ph.D. from Hebrew University.
Full BioMaryam Niamir-Fuller
Maryam Niamir-Fuller is a private consultant. She received a PhD in Rangeland Management from the University of Arizona in 1987, and worked as a consultant early in her career, including as a researcher on a rural development project in southern Sudan and Chief of Party for a livestock development project in Senegal, both funded by USAID.
Full BioBarron Orr
Barron Orr is the Lead Scientist for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona (USA) where he also served as a NASA Geospatial Extension Specialist. As Profesor avalista at the University of Alicante (Spain), he helped develop a restoration ecology graduate degree.
Full BioDay 3: Forests & Fire
Keynote: Alexander L. Friend
Dr. Alexander L. Friend has led the Research and Development (R&D) arm of the USDA Forest Service since 2018. As the Deputy Chief for Research and Development, Dr. Friend directs and integrates research activities to produce scientific information and develop innovative technologies in support of the sustainable management forests and rangelands.
Alaa Wahbeh
Alaa Wahbeh is Head of the Climate Change and Drought Monitoring Dept. at the National Center for Agricultural Research (NARC) in Jordan. She has a MSc in Water Resources and environmental Management, working mainly in studying the effects of climate change on microenvironments and livelihood using remote sensing tools
Full BioOmri Bonneh
Omri Bonneh is Northern District Manager at KKL-JNF. He has a Ph.D. in Forestry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University.
Full BioDan Yakir
Dan Yakir is a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. He also served as a National Research Council Senior Fellow at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Colorado, and as a visiting professor of Columbia University’s Biosphere-II Center.
Full BioDon Falk
Don Falk is a Professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona, with joint appointments in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and the Institute of the Environment.
Read Full Bio