Our Team
Aly Abousabaa
Director General
Augusto Becerra
Deputy Director General - Research
Roula Majdalani
Climate Change Advisor
Garrick Long
Special Advisor to the Director General
Riham Hafez
Administrative Officer to the Director General
Aly Abousabaa
Director General
Augusto Becerra
Deputy Director General - Research
Majd Jamal
Head of Government Liaison
Emina Bektic
Director of Human Resources and Administration
Selim Guvener
General Counsel
John Lindon
Head of Partnerships and Resource Mobilization
Vinay Nangia
Research Team Leader - Soils, Waters and Agronomy
Michael Baum
Research Team Leader - Breeding and Scaling Improved Varieties of dryland cereals and pulses
Barbara Ann Rischkowsky
Research Team Leader - Resilient Agrosilvopastoral Systems (RASP) and Social Economy and Policy Research (SEP)
Zakaria Kehel
Research Team Leader - Genetic Resources, conservation, characterization, and use (GRS)/ Country Coordinator - Morocco
Sarah Gray
Head of Communications
Abdoul Aziz Niane
Senior Scientist for Seed Systems, International Nurseries and Seed Health and Regional Coordinator APRP
Shiv Kumar Agrawal
Head of the Food Legume Research Platform (FLRP) of ICARDA and Regional Coordinator of the ICARDA South Asia and China Regional Program
Hassan Machlab
Lebanon, Jordan & Palestine Country Manager
Majd Jamal
Head of Government Liaison
Zakaria Kehel
Research Team Leader - Genetic Resources, conservation, characterization, and use (GRS)/ Country Coordinator - Morocco
Azaiez Ouled Belgacem
Rangeland Ecology and Management Specialist/Country Coordinator - Tunisia
Akmal Akramkhanov
Senior Scientist - Sustainable Land Management/Country Coordinator - Uzbekistan
Hassan Osman Ahmed El-Awad
Sudan Office Country Manager
Mesut Keser
Country Coordinator - Turkey
Muhi El-Dine Hilali
Food and Feed Processing Scientist/Country Coordinator - Syria
Aynalem Haile
Principal Scientist - Small Ruminant Breeder/Country Coordinator - Ethiopia
Muhammad Imtiaz
Scientist – Seed System Specialist/Country Coordinator - Pakistan
John Lindon
Head of Partnerships and Resource Mobilization
Corinna Sigrid Woellner
Project Development Manager
Mazen El-Solh
Grants and Contracts Manager
Abdelrahman Mossad Shehata
Project Proposal Development Administrator
Isbandiyar Valiyev
Resource Mobilization Officer
The Breeding Team develop new crop varieties that offer higher, and better-quality yields through improved tolerance and resistance to diseases, insect pests, drought, heat, cold, parasitic weeds, and other stress factors. ICARDA’s climate-smart crops are developed alongside National Agricultural Research Systems country partners and follow CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform guidelines.
Breeding and Scaling Improved Varieties of dryland cereals and pulses
Michael Baum
Research Team Leader - Breeding and Scaling Improved Varieties of dryland cereals and pulses
Khaled Al-Sham'aa
Associate Scientist - Biometrics
Miguel Sanchez Garcia
Senior Scientist - Barley Breeder
Sripada Udupa
Senior Scientist, Biotechnology
Mesut Keser
Country Coordinator - Turkey
Wuletaw Tadesse Degu
Principal Scientist - Spring Bread Wheat Breeder
Filippo Bassi
Principal Investigator Genetic Innovation
Fouad Maalouf
Legume Breeder
Seid-Ahmed Kemal
Principal Scientist - Plant Pathologist
Shiv Kumar Agrawal
Head of the Food Legume Research Platform (FLRP) of ICARDA and Regional Coordinator of the ICARDA South Asia and China Regional Program
Andrea Visioni
Pre-Breeding and Physiology Scientist
Tawffiq Istanbuli
Chickpea Research Associate/BCI Farm Coordinator in Terbol
Sawsan Tawkaz
Coordinator - Biotechnology and Plant Cell Culture
Hicham Chao
Research Team Administrator, Project Monitoring, and Knowledge Management Assistant
Hafssa Kabbaj
Research Associate – Genomic Selection of Durum Wheat
The GRS Team plays a crucial global role in conservation and use of dryland genetic resources, making ICARDA a center of excellence for capacity building and technical support on all aspects related to conservation and sustainable use of dryland agro-biodiversity. Core activities include developing and applying best practices for acquisition, pre-breeding, regeneration, conservation, distribution and documentation of genetic resources.
Genetic Resources, conservation, characterization, and use
Zakaria Kehel
Research Team Leader - Genetic Resources, conservation, characterization, and use (GRS)/ Country Coordinator - Morocco
Mariana Yazbek
Genebank Manager – Senior Scientist
Athanasios Tsivelikas
Senior Scientist - Genebank Manager
The SINH aims at developing a functional pluralistic and inclusive seed system operating across ‘open-borders’ for easy movement of varieties and seeds. It is involved in diverse and broad range of activities that collectively addresses seed system constraints working in an integrated holistic approach with emphasis on emerging challenges in seed sector development.
Seed systems, International Nurseries and seed Health
Zewdie Bishaw
Research Team Leader - Seed systems, International Nurseries and seed Health
Muhammad Imtiaz
Scientist – Seed System Specialist/Country Coordinator - Pakistan
Abdoul Aziz Niane
Senior Scientist for Seed Systems, International Nurseries and Seed Health and Regional Coordinator APRP
Safaa Kumari
Head of ICARDA Seed Health Laboratory/Plant Virologist
The SWA Team conducts research to build resilience and sustainably improve water productivity of rainfed and irrigated production systems in dry areas. We work to diversify and intensify these systems in the face of changing climate by combining soil health management techniques, water-saving technologies, and agronomic practices into contextualized solutions for impact at scale.
Soil, Water and Agronomy
Vinay Nangia
Research Team Leader - Soils, Waters and Agronomy
Alaa Mosad Abo-Elmagd
Researcher for Field Measurements and Package of Practices Reporting
Rachid Moussadek
Systems Cropping Agronomist - Joint Researcher - INRA
Mina Kumari Devkota Wasti
Senior Scientist - Dryland Agronomy
Mohie El Din Omar
Research Associate - Irrigation and Water
Anas Mansouri
Training Instructor
Rania Gamal
Senior Research Assistant - Land and Water Management
Mohcin Elmarzak
Field Technician - Marchouch Station
Arash Nejatian
Activities Coordinator Officer
Mohamed Slimani
Field Senior Research Technician
Samar Mohamed Attaher
Research Associate - Agronomist
Krishna Prasad Devkota
Senior Scientist - Dryland Farming
Rahul Choudhary
Project Facilitator (Precision Farming)
Farming with Alternative Pollinators (FAP) is an economically self-sustainable approach to protect pollinators in agricultural land. It builds on amelioration of agricultural land by marketable habitat enhancement plants, nesting support for wild pollinators and cross-sector policies. FAP increases productivity per surface and is scalable also in low- and middle-income countries.
Farming with Alternative Pollinators
Youssef Bencharki
Senior Research Assistant - Farming and Alternative Pollinators
The Resilient Agro-Silvo-Pastoral Systems (RASP) team develops integrated innovation packages for livestock-based systems in low rainfall areas to improve livelihoods and increase system resilience. The team conducts research related to small ruminant (sheep and goats) genetics, breeding, feeding and health, dryland forages, rangeland ecology and management and ecosystem restoration.
Resilient Agrosilvopastoral Systems
Barbara Ann Rischkowsky
Research Team Leader - Resilient Agrosilvopastoral Systems (RASP) and Social Economy and Policy Research (SEP)
Abdul Hussain Memon
Research Associate - Small Ruminant Breeder/Livestock Economist
Mounir Louhaichi
Research Team Leader of Rangeland Ecology and Forages
Aynalem Haile
Principal Scientist - Small Ruminant Breeder/Country Coordinator - Ethiopia
Bezaiet Dessalegn Abebe
Social Sciences Specialist
Jane Nyaranga Ambuku Wamatu
Senior Small Ruminant (SR) Nutritionist
Akmal Akramkhanov
Senior Scientist - Sustainable Land Management/Country Coordinator - Uzbekistan
Mourad Rekik
Principal Scientist - Small Ruminant Physiology and management
Muhi El-Dine Hilali
Food and Feed Processing Scientist/Country Coordinator - Syria
Mira Haddad
Research Associate - Spatio-temporal assessment
Udo Rudiger
Agricultural Innovation Specialist
Sawsan Hassan
Associate Scientist - Forage Agronomist
Tesfaye Getachew Mengistu
Research Management Coordinator
Joram Mwacharo
Senior Scientist - Small Ruminant Genomics
Betty Abrilian
Research Team Administrator
Abeyou Wale Worqlul
Scientist - Soil and Water Conservation Modeling
Azaiez Ouled Belgacem
Rangeland Ecology and Management Specialist/Country Coordinator - Tunisia
Bouajila Essifi
Research Associate - Rangeland Landscape Ecology
The GeoAgro Team combines geoinformatics, big data, climate change modelling, mapping farming systems dynamics, and citizen science, to support and accelerate research for development for sustainable agroecosystem solutions that ensure food, nutrition, and ecological security and better livelihoods in the dry areas.
Geo BigData Driven Digital Augmentation for Sustainable Agro-ecosystems
Ajit Govind
Senior Climate Scientist and Systems Modeler
Layal Atassi
GIS Lab Manager
Abdul Karim Hammadeh
Meteorological Observer
ICARDA’s Capacity Development Unit (CDU) ensures that our innovations are deployed by the communities we work with, and helps national and international organizations and farmers build the capacity to manage their goals. The CDU works alongside national ministries and local authorities, NGOs, global universities, National Agricultural Research Systems, and the private sector.
Capacity Development
Charles Kleinermann
Team Leader - Capacity Development Unit
Masafumi Tamura
Technical Training Officer
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team improves decision-making and research impact through four key areas: monitoring and evaluation to plan, implement, and assess projects; knowledge management to support learning and knowledge sharing; data management to ensure accurate, high-quality data; and research software development to create tools that support these functions.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Enrico Bonaiuti
Research Team Leader - Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning and CIP-Program Management Officer
Laura Becker
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Team Coordinator
Lyudmila Berezina
MEL-LEG Administrative Assistant
Innocent Bikara
Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist
Nonjabuliso Simelane
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
Asma Jeitani
Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, & Impact Assessment Officer
Ruth Musengy’a Mawia
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer
Sara Jani
Knowledge Management Coordinator
Valentina De Col
Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge Management Officer
Elvin Carol Kohen
Project and Knowledge Curation Officer
Fatten Khudershah
Knowledge Management Assistant
Pietro Bartolini
Data Management Specialist
Svetlana Saakova
MEL Platform Manager
Antoine Millet
Artificial Intelligence Officer
Joren Verbist
Technologies Systemization Officer
© 2025 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
The Social, Economy and Policy (SEP) Team plays a crucial role in analyzing the adoption of ICARDA’s innovations and their impact on poverty alleviation, food security, systems resilience and social inclusiveness. The team also works on innovative solutions for more inclusive markets and value chains, natural resource management governance, context-sensitive targeting and scaling of sustainable land and livestock management options and gender transformative approaches.
Social Economy and Policy
Barbara Ann Rischkowsky
Research Team Leader - Resilient Agrosilvopastoral Systems (RASP) and Social Economy and Policy Research (SEP)
Yigezu Atnafe Yigezu
Principal Agricultural Economist
Boubaker Dhehibi
Principal Natural Resources Economist
Girma Tesfahun Kassie
Principal Agricultural Market Economist
Aymen Frija
Principal Agricultural Economist (Economic Modeling)
Dina Najjar
Senior Gender Scientist
Quang Bao Le
Agricultural Livelihood Systems Expert
Zied Idoudi
Research Associate – Economics and Participatory Methods
Woinishet Asnake
Research Officer II - ILRI/ICARDA
Dorsaf Oueslati
Senior Research Assistant - Gender Equality, Inclusion and Women's Empowerment
Irene Carpentier
Geographer - CIRAD