Global secretariat

ICSU has three Regional Offices—serving Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean—with their own secretariat that is staffed locally (for more information see the appropriate pages in this section).

Executive

Steven Wilson

Executive Director

Steven Wilson is the ICSU Executive Director. He took up his position in April 2012. Previously, from 1998 to 2012, he worked for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the main funder of environmental research in the UK. At NERC, prior to a period as the interim Chief Executive, he was the Director, Strategy & Partnerships with responsibility for the development and implementation of NERC Science & Innovation Strategy. As part of his role, he helped found the Belmont Forum of international environmental research funders, later becoming its co-chair and secured a number of national and international partnerships. Prior to this he was NERC Director of Earth Observation and, in this period, he led the British National Space Centre Earth Observation activities, represented the UK environmental science community at the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as Chairing the ESA Earth Observation Programme Board. Steven has also worked for the UK Met Office (1995 to 1998) where he developed and used simulators for future satellite instrumentation on the Office's Hercules research aircraft. Steven took his first degree at St John's College, Oxford (Chemistry) and his PhD at the University of Bristol, where his research focused on molecular photodissociation dynamics.

Carthage Smith

Deputy Executive Director

Carthage joined ICSU as Deputy Executive Director in 2001. Prior to moving to ICSU, he was head of the International Section at the Medical Research Council in the UK. Originally trained as a biochemist, his PhD and research background are in Neuroscience.

Tish Bahmani Fard

Assistant Executive Director

Tish holds the dubious distinction of being the longest serving member of the Secretariat, where she has occupied several posts and is now responsible for membership and general administrative issues.
In the dimly remembered time PI (pre-ICSU), she read philosophy, politics and English and had a varied career which took her from milk floats to wine cellars before arriving in Paris to embark on more serious matters.

Environment and Sustainable Development

Peter Bates

Science Officer

Peter serves as a Science Officer, working on ICSU’s projects relating to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 (Rio+20). He studied environmental science at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and holds an interdisciplinary PhD in ecology and anthropology, which focused on the science and Inuit knowledge of caribou migrations in Arctic Canada. Before joining ICSU Peter worked for UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), on projects concerning the Arctic, ocean observing systems and indigenous peoples.

Gisbert Glaser

Senior Advisor

Gisbert is trained as a geographer (doctorate in geography from the University of Heidelberg, 1965). In January 2002, he became a Senior Advisor on science for sustainable development and UN system cooperation to the ICSU Executive Director. He was a member of ICSU’s Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE) from 1992 to 1996. After having started a university career (1965 to 1971 at Heidelberg University, including altogether one year of postdoctoral field research in Brazil), Dr. Glaser joined UNESCO in Paris in 1972. He has worked in different assignments at UNESCO up to 2001 when he retired with the rank of Assistant Director-General, responsible for UNESCO’s programmes in the natural and engineering sciences. The scope of his assignments at UNESCO ranged from directing specific components within the Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme in the 1970s and 1980s to strategic assignments later-on (e.g. coordinating UNESCO’s follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development -Rio, 1992).

Katsia Paulavets

Project Coordinator

Katsia joined ICSU in 2012 as a coordinator of the project that aims to strengthen the involvement of developing countries in setting and implementing the research agenda for global sustainability. Before joining ICSU, she worked for UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics on building institutional capacities on emergency preparedness and chemical accident prevention, both at national and local levels. Prior to that, Katsia worked as a project coordinator at Lund University in Sweden, mostly for the capacity building programme “Energy for Sustainable Development”, designed for energy professionals in developing countries. Katsia holds degrees in environmental engineering, management and policy.

Rohini Rao

Administrative Officer

Rohini serves as administrative officer and works with the team in planning and coordinating activities related to sustainable development, Governance and Policy Committees. She joined ICSU in 1985 to assist with the Conference of the Committee on Teaching of Science and since then has assisted several ICSU Interdisciplinary bodies in their day-to-day activities and liaised with UNESCO and NSF on grants and contracts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, Economics and Political Science, an MBA from the Institute of Management Studies in India, a diploma in ‘Creation d’Entreprise’ at the initiative of the Conseil Général des Haut de Seine, France and more recently, a diploma in Management Essentials from Cornell University in New York.

Anne-Sophie Stevance

Assistant Science Officer

Within ICSU, Anne-Sophie works on the design and implementation of “Future Earth”, a new strategic framework for global Earth system research. She holds a Master degree in political sciences, specialising in sustainable development policies. Anne-Sophie worked previously as an environmental project officer in a research consultancy and helped integrate engineering and scientific knowledge into local environmental policies. She also has experience in stakeholders’ management at local and European levels to support sustainability initiatives.

Scientific Planning and Special Projects

Maureen Brennan

Administrative Officer

Maureen is originally from Dublin, Ireland. She has been working with ICSU since May 1986 as an Administrative Officer involved in, inter-alia, membership and back-stopping several scientific committees by organising meetings and following yearly budgets for each Committee. Maureen was attracted to ICSU because of its vast global membership and its multi-interdisciplinary activities. Some pare time activities outside ICSU are collecting school books for schools in Benin and Uganda and visiting these schools.

Vivien Lee

Assistant Science Officer

Vivien trained as a hydraulic engineer and received a Masters degree from the National Taiwan University. She spent two years in Japan working for a water quality and environmental assessment company before returning to Taipei to work for the National Science Council (NSC), the main funding agency for academic research in Taiwan. At NSC she managed the Intellectual Property Rights of research results for NSC-funded projects, before spending five years working as a programme director on bilateral cooperation with France, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Vivien has been seconded for three years as part of an agreement between ICSU and the Academy of Sciences located in Taipei (an ICSU National Member).

Scientific Data and Information

Howard Moore

Senior Advisor

Howard trained in zoology and holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology. He worked in science publishing in the UK for almost 12 years before joining UNESCO in 1982. He developed and published UNESCO’s first World Science Report in 1993, and was responsible for the publication of subsequent editions. He was Secretary to the World Conference on Science (Budapest, 1999, in collaboration with ICSU), and in 2001 became Director of the Executive Office in the Natural Sciences Sector of UNESCO. In January 2003 he was appointed Director of the UNESCO Office in Venice – Regional Bureau for Science in Europe, with responsibility for the organization’s programmes aimed at supporting scientific communities in South East Europe. He has been Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of ICSU since his retirement from UNESCO in early 2006.

Communications and Information Technology

Yun-Kang Ahn

IT Officer

After working as an IT consultant, Yun-Kang joined ICSU in 2012. After training in mathematics and physics, he holds degrees in computer science and applied science to music. These led him to a PhD in computational musicology, which were completed during his work experience with other research topics like image processing or video compression and streaming.

Denise Young

Communications Manager

Denise Young joined ICSU in 2012 as Communications Manager. She has worked as a public relations consultant for the non-profit sector, a press officer at UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, and prior to that was a journalist with Reuters.

Johannes Mengel

Communications Officer/Web Editor

Johannes joined ICSU in November 2012 as Communications Officer/Web Editor. He holds a degree in Communication Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg and a Master’s degree in History of Art from the University of Cambridge. Before joining ICSU he has worked with DPA and Spiegel Online in Germany.

Administration and Finances

Frederica Kostadinoff

Administrative Officer

Frederica joined the ICSU Secretariat in 2006 to assist the Executive Director and the other Administrative Officers on various projects. She also helps manage the ICSU membership and assists the accountant. After 20 years of journalism spent in crowded newsrooms she finds it very interesting to work for scientists especially in the field of sustainable development.

Eric Leparmentier

General Services

Eric is in charge of general day-to-day maintenance and security at ICSU, as well as of supplies and equipment.

Natacha de Marchi

Accountant

Natacha manages ICSU's financial matters. She joined ICSU in 1997, after holding several positions in an oil company (BP), in a leading marketing information company (AC NIELSEN) and in Chartered accountant (INFODIT).

Clare Thirlway

Personal Assistant to the Executive Director

Clare joined ICSU in 2009, as PA to the Executive Director. She has had a varied career to date, both in the UK and in France. After obtaining her first degree in History (Bristol University, UK), she worked in arts administration, looking after international artists, first at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and then at Welsh National Opera. In 1994 she moved to France, where she initially taught English as a foreign language. She later embarked on full-time study again, obtaining an MBA in International Business from EAP, Paris (European School of Management) in 1998. Before joining ICSU, she spent 7 years at SHL France (Saville & Holdsworth), as a human resources consultant, specialising in objective assessment and development, using psychometric tools.

Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science

Roger Pfister

Executive Secretary CFRS

Roger Pfister is a political scientist and international relations scholar, having studied in Switzerland, the UK and South Africa, where he obtained his PhD. He has worked at the ETH Zurich and the University of Fribourg, where he was also involved in setting up research promotion programmes in the Western Balkans and in the South Caucasus. Roger has been the Executive Secretary for ICSU's CFRS since October 2010. Based in Berne, he works jointly for ICSU and the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), where he heads the international section and whose generous support makes his position possible.