Focal Topics: “Air Pollution in Central Asia. Climate Change. Energy source actions for clean air in the region. What would be the cost of inaction?”. “Importance of Renewable Sources of Energy. The huge potential of Central Asia on renewable sources of energy generation. How Kyrgyzstan utilizes hydropower to sustain electricity in the region”.
Dr. Sagynbek Orunbaev is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Sustainability and Climate Sciences at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) since spring, 2017. He obtained his undergraduate degree with honor in applied mathematics (2000) from Kyrgyz State National University, and master’s degree in the field of Natural Disaster Risk Management from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo, Japan in 2016. Orunbaev received his Ph.D. in physics and mathematics from the Institute of Dynamics of Geosphere of Russian Academy Sciences, Moscow, Russia in 2018.
Sagynbek Orunbaev co-developed and is currently a founding chief of the Kyrgyz Association on Safety of Dams, and a member of International Committee on Large Dams. He has also served as a manager of several research activities in satellite remote sensing on climate change, natural hazard and risk assessment. He previously led projects related to: importance of clean air and renewable sources of energy; ground based and remote sensing monitoring of climate change issues; and toward understanding degradation in mountain pastures – current perspectives and new insights from the highlands of Kyrgyzstan.
Orunbaev has made nearly 100 scholarly contributions, including over 50 peer-reviewed research papers (h-index = 13; i-index = 12; October 2023). He has been funded by several International Development Agencies for investigation of climate change, air pollution and water resources.