1. Academic Qualifications:

BSc, MSc, PG. Cert. T. L., PhD., DSc.

2. Professional Credentials:

• Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS),

• Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS),

• Fellow of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (FRSPSoc)

• Fellow of the International Congress of Disaster Management (FICDM).

• Emeritus Professor, University of Kurdistan - Hawler (UKH), KRG, Iraq.

• Honorary Professor, University of East Anglia, UK

• President of The Institute for Development, Empowerment, Assessment and Leadership (IDEAL).

3. Profile:

Professor Baban is the Chair of the Presidency Board of Advisors and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, Iraq. He previously served in a similar capacity at the Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq. He was the Vice Chancellor of Cihan Group Universities and had previously held the position of Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources. Before that, he served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Kurdistan Hewler (UKH). While abroad from 1987 until 2009, he served as a Professor, Head of School, and Dean in universities across the UK, the Caribbean, and Australia.

Prof. Baban has over 30 years of international experience and a successful record of developing institutions, delivering strategic objectives, and achieving significant results at the executive level through strategic planning, teamwork, and informed decision-making. He is instrumental in conceptualizing issues, crafting strategies, and providing effective scientific advisory research and consultancy.

Professor Baban has a multidisciplinary, geo-based environmental background and work experience in arid and semi-arid regions (Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan), temperate areas (UK), and tropical environments (Malaysia, the Caribbean region, Indonesia, and Australia).

His research interests and consultancy expertise can be grouped into the following themes:

           i. Water Resources Science and Management.

          ii. Land Use/Cover, Agriculture & Biodiversity

          iii. Managing Geo-Hazards

          iv. Geoinformatics-Based Suitability Research for Sustainable Development

          v. Geosciences (Including Soil Science and Management).

          vi. Climate Change and Management

          vii. Higher Education and University Governance.

He has a substantial international record of obtaining and managing research grants, consultancy, and studentships, as well as managing multi-faceted research projects. He has published over 200 papers in international/national journals and international conference proceedings, 91 chapters in books, 23 books, and 90 Consultancy, Research Grants, and Special Reports.

He is an Editor and Academic Referee for several International, Regional, and National Journals. He has served on the scientific and organizing committees for various international conferences worldwide (U.K., Holland, Australia, USA, Jordan, Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Bahamas, India, China, Thailand, Philippines, South Africa and Malta) and is a member of the Editorial Board and an academic referee for a wide range of international, regional and national refereed journals.

Professor Serwan M. J. Baban

BSc, MSc, PhD., DSc. PG. Cert. T. L.,

FRGS, FGS, FRSPSoc, FICDM.