Main Content
NaDiMa Dialogue #3 | Droughts, Sand & Dust Storms: Challenges and Management | 23 September 2020
Agenda
In recent years, the water shortage and drought in Iran have caused substantial economic costs, several social issues, health problems, and violent conflicts (Farzanegan et al., 2019). The concern about drought is, of course, not new. It was even reflected in a statement by Dariush the Great (550 B.C.), King of the Iranian (Persian) Achaemenid Empire "May Ahura Mazda protect this land, this nation, from rancor, from foes, from falsehood and from drought".
In the third NaDiMa Dialogue, we focus on droughts, dust and sand storms with references to Iran and Central Asia. Following a brief introduction to the NaDiMa project by Professor Dr. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan (CNMS, School of Business & Economics in Marburg), our panel of experts from Iran and Germany with moderation of Dr. Aliakbar Nazari (Associate Professor in Geomorphology and Soil Erosion at Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran) will elaborate different aspects of drought, sand and dust storm challenges. Our panel of speakers includes Professors Dr. Opp (Professor of Physical Geography, Head of Working Group Hydro-Geography and Soil Geography, University of Marburg), Dr. Malekian (Associate Professor in Hydrology and Water Resources Management at Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran) and Dr. Abbasi (Assistant Professor, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands in Tehran). NaDiMa Dialogue #3 presents a 'meeting point' for economists, geographers and environmental experts, promoting an interdisciplinary discussion about our critical natural hazards.
Speakers
Introduction:
Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, School of Business & Economics
Mohammad Farzanegan is Professor of Economics of the Middle East at Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) & School of Business and Economics at Philipps-Universität Marburg. He gained his PhD in Economics from TU Dresden (2009) and was the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow from 2010-2012. Since 2012, he holds the Chair of Economics of the Middle East at University of Marburg. His fields of research are political economy and empirical development economics with reference to the Middle East/Iran. He is the NaDiMa project leader (2020). From 2016 to 2018, he was also responsible for the NAREM project with Iran with the support of DAAD/AA.
Moderator:
Aliakbar Nazari Samani, Associate Professor of Geomorphology and Soil Erosion, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran
Aliakbar Nazari Samani is an associate professor of Geomorphology and Soil Erosion at the University of Tehran. His scientific works are mostly on geomorphic-hazards processes and its application on the watershed management. He has a several national and international cooperation for scientific programs in soil erosion and has published articles in national and International Journals. He also is an adjunct member of the Academy of Sciences of I.R Iran. Currently he is teaching and doing research at the Faculty of Natural Resources and mostly focused on wind erosion and dust emission processes.
Speakers:
Christian Opp, Professor for Physical Geography, Head of Department of Hydrology and Soil Science, Philipps-Universität.
Topic of presentation: Causes and Consequences of Sand and Dust Storms - Experiences from Central Asia and other Regions
Christian Opp is Professor of Physical Geography and Head of the Working Group Hydro-Geography and Soil Geography at Philipps-Universität Marburg. His reserach focuses on Hydrology, Desertification, Water Management in dryland areas, Dust storm and dust deposition monitoring and Environmental analysis of water bodies and soils. His research experience includes Germany, Central Asia and Iran among others.
Arash Malekian, Associate Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran.
Topic of presentation: Drought and Socio-Economic Aspects in Iran: Challenges and Opportunities
Arash Malekian is an associate professor at the University of Tehran. As the adjunct member of the Academy of Sciences of I.R Iran, his research, teaching and interests are hydrology and water resources management, and climate change mitigation. He is the author and co-author of several international publications and he has served as the former advisor of the international office at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, former head of department and former international advisor of Science and Technology Park of the University of Tehran.
Hamidreza Abbasi, Member of Scientific Board in Desert Department, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran.
Topic of presentation: The Environmental Problems of Sand and Dust Storms in Iran
Hamidreza Abbasi is a senior researcher in the Desert Research Division at Research Institute Forests and Ranglands of Iran. He gained his Doctor of Natural Science (Dr. rer. nat.) in 2019 in Geography under supervision of Professor Opp on the topic of "Sand Dune Systems in Iran - Distribution and Activity". His research encompasses a range of natural resource applications, including desertification, wind erosion, dust and sand storms, drylands, physio-chemical soils in desert ecosystem, land-use planning in dust and sand sources, and sand dunes stabilization. He recently published new sand dunes maps and dunes activity classification in Iran and Afghanistan. Currently, he is responsible for a national project in relation to monitoring dust sources in Iran.
Registration and Technical Requirements
Time and Place: Wednesday, 23. September 2020, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (CET), online
How to join: The online Dialogue is free, but you must register to attend. Click here to register.
Platform: We are using Adobe Connect for the NaDiMa Dialogue Series. It can be accessed via browser or desktop app.
Meeting Applications for Adobe Connect can be downloaded hereInstructions and Technical Requirements for Participants:
Quick Start Guide for Participants
How to be a Participant in Adobe Connect (YouTube)Poster
Slides
Here you can find all slides that were presented in NaDiMa Dialogue #3
Dr. Arash Malekian - Drought Management: Challenges and Opportunities
Dr. Hamidreza Abbasi - Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) in Iran Challenges and Manangment
Recording
