Moderator & Lead SpeakerShirish Ravan Head of UN-SPIDER Beijing Office
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Austria

BiographyDr. Shirish Ravan works for the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, Austria, the UN Office dedicated to global space governance and peaceful uses of outer space. He coordinates activities of the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) primarily in Asia and the Pacific. He is also involved in diverse initiatives of the Office supporting the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. His previous assignments at United Nations include heading the Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan. He has extensively worked with the countries in Asia, the Pacific and Africa to offer technical advisory services and the capacity to use space-based technologies for strengthening disaster and climate resilience. He holds a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Science, a Master's in Environmental Sciences and PhD in Remote Sensing Applications in Forest Ecology and authored over 50 publications.