Team & Partners

Dr Vladimir Dobrev

Vladimir has extensive experience in the practical conservation of vultures in the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He earned his PhD on the migration ecology of Egyptian vultures in the Balkans as part of the Egyptian vulture NEW LIFE project. He is also European Regional Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Vulture Specialist Group. He is one of the founders of the Central Asian Vultures Project and is helping with the research activity and capacity building.

Anna Ten

Anna has extensive experience as a biologist in Uzbekistan and has carried out projects throughout the country on a variety of different species. She held a Central Asian Deserts Initiative fellowship on breeding Vultures and Saker Falcons in Uzbekistan in 2017. She has worked with the Institute of Zoology and UzSPB. Anna is one of the co-founders of the Central Asian Vultures project, where she involved in management and planning, as well as doing important field work.

Valentin Soldatov

Valentin is a biologist from Uzbekistan and, together with Anna, has worked on multiple projects in the country and abroad. He has excellent experience in bird study projects, and also organises expedition logistics for different field specialists. Valentin is the fourth co-founder of the project and does most of the preparatory and preliminary field work, and is the project’s expedition specialist.

Dr Robert John Burnside

John is a conservation biologist who has been leading conservation research programmes in Central Asia and the Middle East since 2013. He specialises in using fieldwork, remote sensing and satellite tracking to study demography, population dynamics, migration and movement ecology of threatened species. John is a co-founder of the Central Asian Vultures project and contributes to strategy, funding applications, study design, data management, analysis and preparation of reports and research papers.

Igor Karyakin

Igor is an international raptor specialist, conducting extensive research on vultures and avian scavengers in Russia and Kazakhstan, including large-scale banding and satellite monitoring of Cinereous and Egyptian vultures. He has been the editor-in-chief of the bilingual scientific journal Raptors Conservation since 2005, and the author of over 300 scientific papers, 14 books, and 3 manuals about birds of prey. Since 2012, he has developed colour schemes for ringing raptors (matched with EURING) across Russia and Central Asia, and established the online GIS Faunistics.

Alyona Kaptyonkina

A Master of Natural Science, Alyona works as a Researcher at the Biodiversity Research and Conservation Centre and the Institute of Zoology of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Her international role includes membership in the IUCN Vulture Specialist Group since February 2024. Since 2022, her focus has been the study and conservation of rare raptors, including vultures, across Kazakhstan. This includes numerous field expeditions in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, providing hands on experience with bird-ringing and GPS-tracking. Her scientific output features authoring vulture species accounts for the Red Data Book of Kazakhstan (in press/drafting), and authoring/co-authoring several articles on raptor nesting ecology and migration in the country.

Genriyetta Pulikova

Genriyetta is an experienced ornithologist specialising in raptor research, with a particular scientific interest in Steppe Eagles (Aquila nipalensis) in Kazakhstan. Since 2022, her research scope has included the study of avian scavengers in Kazakhstan, including numerous field expeditions in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, providing hands on experience with bird-ringing and GPS-tracking. She is a frequent participant in international seminars, conferences, and workshops and has authored and co-authored a number of publications focusing on the breeding and migratory ecology of raptors in Kazakhstan.

Jérémie Berlioux

Jérémie is the director of Zharatylysh Fondu (Nature Foundation), a Kyrgyz non-profit NGO working on the conservation of birds and their habitats in Kyrgyzstan and along the Central Asian Flyway. His goal: getting Kyrgyzstan NSAID-free by the time Aigerim, a young Egyptian vulture tagged in the valley of Fergana in July 2025, will return to the region and start breeding.

Muhammadsoleh Oev

Muhammadsoleh is a specialist in the field of nature research and conservation, focusing on biodiversity assessment and the protection of threatened species. He is a Project Coordinator at the Tajikistan Nature Foundation, where he oversees initiatives related to bird research and conservation. He manages field surveys, supports long-term monitoring programmes, and contributes to the development of conservation strategies for key biodiversity areas in Tajikistan. He is actively engaged in projects dedicated to the study and protection of vultures and other raptors, as well as regional efforts to monitor species populations and improve habitat management.

Katherine Hall

Katherine is based with the Nature Foundation in the Kyrgyz Republic, assisting on vulture conservation projects. She is the Co-Chair of the Central Asian Conservation Network (CACN), a platform for enhancing transboundary collaboration on bird and habitat conservation along the Central Asian flyway, including vultures. Katherine is currently undertaking a PhD in environmental policy.

Lusine Aghajanyan

Lusine is a scientist and PhD student at the Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. She leads the biodiversity conservation programme at the Armenian branch of NABU. Her main field is ornithology, with a focus on vultures. Since 2018, Lusine has initiated and implemented comprehensive vulture studies in Armenia, alongside other ornithological projects. From 2023, she has contributed towards Central Asian Vultures Project with field work and desk studies.

Cat Taras

Cat is working to support vulture conservation in any way she can. She is the administrative assistant for the IUCN SSC Vulture Specialist Group. She has been helping the Central Asian Vultures Project with communications strategy, and evangelising the project at various conferences around the UK.

Curtis Middleton

Curtis is a vulture enthusiast living in France, where he has been working with bearded vultures and other raptors native to the Pyrenees since 2020. He is excited to be supporting the project with communications.

Becky Ive

Becky has been helping with communications and funding grants behind the scenes and is an avid vulture conservationist. With a background in zookeeping, wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife monitoring across Europe, Asia and Africa, she is now based in South Africa carrying out anti-poaching work.