Featured Speakers
Alan Basist, President, Eyes on Earth and Mekong Dam Monitor Co-Lead
Alan Basist has worked in climate sciences for almost 40 years. His experience ranges from work as a research scientist in NOAA, to an employee of a reinsurance company, to an entrepreneur identifying climate variability, as well as promoting mitigation and risk management strategies. In 2013 he started a company ‘Eyes On Earth to service the agricultural and insurance industry on climate related investments, as well as monitoring food and water resources around the world. He has most recently has been working on the development of river flow models. His full bio is available here.
Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia Program Director and Mekong Dam Monitor Co-Lead, Stimson Center
Brian Eyler directs the Southeast Asia Program and the Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program. He is an expert on transboundary issues in the Mekong region and specializes in China’s economic cooperation with Southeast Asia. Brian is co-lead on the Mekong Dam Monitor, the winner of 2021 Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award, 1st Prize in the 2021 Prudence Foundation’s Disaster Tech Competition, and the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation’s 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award. His first book, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, was published by Zed Books in 2019. His full bio is available here.
Courtney Weatherby, Southeast Asia Program Deputy Director, Stimson Center
Courtney Weatherby’s research focuses on sustainable infrastructure and energy development challenges in the Indo-Pacific, particularly at the nexus of issues in food, water, and energy in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Weatherby was a lead author on a range of technical and policy studies, including Thailand’s Energy Development Pathways report in collaboration with Pact Thailand and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sekong, Sesan, Srepok Basin Energy Profile report. She provides support to the development and management of the Mekong Dam Monitor, a platform for near-real time monitoring of dams and environmental impacts in the Mekong Basin. Her full bio is available here.
Nguyen Huu Thien, Independent consultant based in Can Tho, Vietnam
Nguyen Huu Thien has more than 25 years of experience working on issues of climate change, natural resource management, biodiversity, energy and sustainable livelihoods in Southeast Asia. He has served as a project manager, technical advisor, educator, trainer and consultant, among many other positions. Over the past 15 years, Thien has worked with the International Centre for Environmental Management (ICEM), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The World Conservation Union (IUCN), CARE International Vietnam, and Can Tho University advising on issues of conservation and capacity building for sustainable and locally grown development.
Moderated by
Socheata Hean, Independent Journalist
Socheata Hean writes for Voice of America Khmer and has more than seven years of experience working as a journalist in Cambodia. In 2021 she served as a Mekong Data Journalism Fellow with the East West Center and Earth Journalism Network. Apart from her time as a journalist, she worked for three years as a political research and social media officer with the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh. She has a B.A. in Communications and Media studies from the Royal University of Phnom Penh and a B.A. in Public Administration from the Royal University of Law and Economics.