Biodiversity Researcher, AUA Acopian Center for the Environment and Assistant Professor, AUA Akian College of Science and Engineering
Dr. Arsen Gasparyan is an Assistant Professor at the AUA Akian College of Science and Engineering and a Biodiversity Researcher at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment. He teaches several courses on environmental biology and biodiversity conservation for both undergraduate and graduate students. He completed his doctoral studies at the Berlin Botanical Garden and Museum, Freie Universität Berlin (Germany). His research focuses on funga (lichen and fungi) conservation, diversity, phylogenetics, and taxonomy, among other topics. He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles, monographs, and book chapters. Dr. Gasparyan is also a member of the IUCN Lichen Conservation Group. Throughout his career, he has served as a Conservation Officer at WWF Armenia and as the Director of the A. Takhtajyan Institute of Botany, NAS RA. Additionally, he has contributed as a biodiversity and protected area expert to the development of Armenia’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and management plans for several protected areas, as well as other key policy documents.
E-mail: arsen.h.gasparyan[at]aua.am
Tel.: +37455238686
Researcher, project officer
Aida Papikyan joined the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment as a researcher in 2024. Aida majored in Cultural Studies at the Yerevan State University in 2019 and Sustainable Resource Management at the Technical University of Munich in 2023. She specializes in wildlife and forest ecosystems management, community-based conservation, and spatiotemporal data analysis for informed conservation. Aida’s academic interests include climate change adaptation and mitigation and landscape planning in environmental sciences, as well as social aspects of power dynamics in the modern army and police, and Stalin’s repressions in social sciences.
At the AUA Acopian Center, Aida is involved in projects aimed at scaling up citizen science at the European and national levels.
She is also a guest scientist at the Chair of Zoology at the Technical University of Munich conducting data analysis for wildlife conservation in African countries.
Email: apapikyan[at]aua.am
Adjunct Lecturer and Researcher
Armen Danielian specializes in energy economics and regulation, in particular on electricity markets. Armen is an adjunct lecturer at AUA and a researcher at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment on energy and waste-related topics. He has also been a researcher at the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) working on Armenia’s Energy Independence research grant. His professional experience includes working at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. He received his Master’s degree in Energy Systems from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Business School Lausanne.
Office location
303W, Acopian Center for the Environment, Paramaz Avedisian Building
Email
[email protected]
Adjunct Lecturer
Dr. Irina Ghaplanyan is a political analyst and a published author. She holds a doctorate degree in political science from the University of Cambridge. Her main areas of expertise are political leadership, states in transition, conflict resolution, gender and gender in conflict, and security studies. Her previous education includes a Master’s Degree in Diplomatic Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of London and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations from the University of Malta. She has worked in several international organizations and think tanks around the world, including UNDP, Georgetown University, Eurasia Foundation, Hudson Institute, and many others. She has also been a catalyst for change in the field of sustainable business and social entrepreneurship in Armenia. Dr. Ghaplanyan was noted for her work in this field and, in 2015, was awarded as one of the top social venture entrepreneurs by the Global Good Fund Leadership program in Washington DC. Irina has a number of academic and media publications, among which the most anticipated is the upcoming book titled “Armenia: A Country in Search of Leaders,” due to be released in 2017 by Routledge Publishers in London.
Contacts
E-mail: [email protected]
Grants and Projects Senior Coordinator
Arpine Zakaryan joined the AUA Acopian Center in November 2021 as a Project Assistant for the Sida-funded “Mobilizing the Private Sector to Advance Responsible Consumption and Production in Armenia” project. She later transitioned to the role of Project Coordinator for the “ILIAD–Digital twin of the oceans” project in May 2022. Since August 2025, Arpine has served as the Grants and Projects Senior Coordinator at the Acopian Center for the Environment, where she oversees all stages of project lifecycles, including development, design, implementation, and evaluation. She is responsible for managing contracts, budgets, and multiple assignments, ensuring compliance with policies, and coordinating the timely preparation of financial and narrative reports. Arpine holds a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages from Brusov State University.
Contacts
Email: [email protected]
Work phone: +37460 61 2689
Project Assistant (OTTERS Project)
Haykanush Martirosyan joined the American University of Armenia (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment in October 2021 as a Project Assistant for “Copernicus Assisted Environmental Monitoring Across the Black Sea Basin” – PONTOS Project. She graduated from the American University of Armenia, earning a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Affairs (PSIA), and Yerevan State University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations. Haykanush’s functions include assistance in the organization and participation in the Project’s various meetings, support for the development of the Project management and assurance documents, participation in the elaboration of periodic progress reports, preparation and dissemination of promotional materials, as well as the implementation of other Project-related functions.
Contacts
Email: [email protected]
Work phone: +37460 61 2776
Hasmik Knyazyan joined the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment in 2024 as Project Manager for the Horizon Europe–funded STREACS project (Strengthening Research Capacities in Armenia for Energy Transition Toward Climate Solutions, 2024–2027).
She earned her Master’s degree in Ethnography from Yerevan State University (2012–2014) and continued her studies in the Master’s program in Cultural Anthropology at the European University at Saint Petersburg (2015–2017). Her research interests include the anthropology of memory, Soviet everyday life, intangible cultural heritage, and visual and urban anthropology.
Alongside her role at AUA, Hasmik is a Junior Researcher in Cultural Anthropology at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. She is also a Co-Investigator for the five-year project “Crisis and Memory: Digital Oral History Laboratory” at the Institute’s Department of Cultural Anthropology.
Hasmik has extensive experience in research administration and project management. From 2022 to 2024, she served as Head of the Yerevan Center for International Education Foundation.
Email: [email protected]
Assistant Professor, Water Expert, Project Manager
Garabet Kazanjian joined the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment as an adjunct faculty and researcher in Summer 2020. Dr. Kazanjian received his PhD in Limnology from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2019 and his MSc in marine biology from the American University of Beirut in 2012. Between 2013 and 2018, he worked at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, Germany.
Dr. Kazanjian has collaborated with several European research institutes in calculating whole-landscape carbon budgets. He also served as a guest scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in 2014-15, where he investigated the impact of climate change on lakes. Previously, he has conducted fisheries research in Lebanon and has served for two years as the Oceans Campaigner of Greenpeace, engaging in environmental advocacy and working towards establishing marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.
He is an aquatic ecologist who is engaged in understanding carbon dynamics in water systems. He is enthusiastic about supporting advancements in ecology, passionate about increasing knowledge and outreach, and interested in conservation, sustainability, and development projects.
Email: gkazanjian(at)aua.am
GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist
Gohar Shahinyan is a GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist who is supporting projects at the AUA GIS and Remote Sensing Lab. She is currently conducting her Master’s Degree in Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation for Environmental Modeling and Natural Resource Management, a collaborative program between Lund University (Sweden) and ITC | University of Twente (the Netherlands). She received her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies at Bates College. Gohar is also the co-founder of FEED: Foundation for Ecological Education and Design. FEED operates as an education, demonstration, and research site, offering focused, hands-on learning experiences grounded in permaculture principles, scientific methodology, and design thinking. The AUA GIS and Remote Sensing Lab is a collaborative initiative of the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment and the AUA Akian College of Science and Engineering.
GIS and Hydrology Expert
Dr. Alexander Arakelyan joined Acopian Center for Environment in 2018 as a GIS and Hydrology Expert. He joined AUA Acopian Center for the Environment and AUA Center for Responsible Mining in 2018. Dr. Arakelyan is managing projects related to environmental education and responsible mining issues.
Alexander also leads GIS Lab in the Institute of Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. His expertise is in hydrology, GIS analysis and modeling, water resources management planning, environmental research as well as disaster risk assessment and assessment of climate change impacts on water resources. He has been involved as a GIS and Hydrology Specialist in more than 30 State and donor-funded projects in Armenia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Alexander has a PhD in Engineering (Surface Hydrology, Water Resources, Hydrochemistry) from the Institute of Water Problems and Hydraulic Engineering after Academician I.V. Yeghiazarov.
Email: alexander.arakelyan(at)aua.am
Grants and Projects Manager
Siranush Harutyunyan has been with the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment as a Grants and Projects Manager since July 2017. In this role, she supported grant and proposal writing, managed grant requirements and reporting, reviewed project budgets, and oversaw accounting to ensure compliance with the Center’s operational and financial needs.
She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from AUA. Previously, she served as a Program Coordinator at the AUA Turpanjian Rural Development Program and worked at the ICHD think tank and the Human Rights Defender’s Office of International Cooperation and Strategic Development.
Currently, Siranush is the Manager of AUA’s Sponsored Programs, where she now oversees the university’s externally funded projects, supporting faculty and researchers throughout the pre- and post-award grant lifecycle.
Email: siranush.harutyunyan(at)aua.am
Tel: +374 60 612688
Program Manager and Lecturer
Harutyun Alpetyan is a waste management expert at the American University of Armenia (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment. His current research and work aim to promote and accelerate the transition towards a circular economy through education and innovation, cross-sectoral collaboration, and policy change. While acting as a leading expert and principal investigator, Harutyun also takes the role of policy liaison in many projects on waste initiated by the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment. The area of his research and work involves waste handling and landfill mapping, national policies and strategies, sustainable waste management and landfill operations planning, waste quantity and composition studies, and other topics. Passionate about awareness-raising and education, Harutyun also teaches environmental courses at the American University of Armenia.
Email: alpetyan(at)aua.am
Tel: +374 60 612693
Adjunct Lecturer
Lusine Tadevosyan is the Adjunct Lecturer at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment for the Sustainable Food Systems course. She holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the Armenian National Agrarian University and received a graduate certificate in Agribusiness from Texas A&M University upon successful completion of the Master of Agribusiness (MAB) program of ICARE/ATC. Lusine is the head of the research department of the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE) foundation. She has more than 10 years of working experience in the research, business advisory, and consulting sector. She has extensive experience in agri-food sector studies, including value chain analysis, feasibility studies.
Email: lusine.tadevosyan(at)aua.am
Adjunct Lecturer
Astghine Pasoyan has joined the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment in September 2015. She teaches and co-teaches courses on the interrelation of the humans and the environment, business and environmental sustainability, water, engineering green buildings, decision-making tools for energy generation and use. Concurrently, over the past twenty years Ms. Pasoyan has been heading a local non-profit Foundation to Save Energy, consulting the USAID, World Bank, European Commission, EBRD, UNDP and other donors and IFIs on energy efficiency policy, financing, planning, communications and capacity building in countries of Southeast Europe and CIS. Astghine Pasoyan is a graduate of the Brown University, Providence, RI and the Yerevan State Economic University, Armenia.
Email: apasoyan(at)aua.am
Adjunct Lecturer, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects Coordinator
Norayr Benohanian is an adjunct lecturer at the American University of Armenia (AUA) and the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects Coordinator at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment. In his role as projects coordinator, he has worked on several initiatives, including the annual Sustainable Energy Academy which has been organized in collaboration with the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation since 2016, ERASMUS+ MARUEEB project, as well as various other conferences and events. Norayr’s courses at AUA include Engineering for non-Engineers, Basics of Sustainable Energy, and Projects in Environmental Sciences. He holds two Master’s degrees, a Master of Science in Materials Engineering from the German University in Cairo, and a Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering and Systems Management from AUA.
Email: n.benohanian(at)aua.am
Tel: +374 60 612694
Adjunct Lecturer, GIS Specialist, Project Manager
Aghavni Harutyunyan is the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE) and AUA Center for Responsible Mining (CRM) starting in 2015. Ms. Harutyunyan is creating maps and providing data analyses through GIS. Before joining AUA ACE and AUA CRM she worked at the National Survey for Seismic Protection of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of RA. Ms. Harutyunyan holds a Master’s degree in Geography from the Yerevan State University from the Department of Geography and Geology.
Email: a.harutyunyan(at)aua.am
Tel: +374 60 612687
Director, Acopian Center for the Environment
Alen Amirkhanian is the Director of the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment, a position he has held since 2013. In 2023, he became the inaugural Chair of the Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences (ESS) at the AUA Akian College of Science and Engineering. He teaches graduate and undergraduate environmental courses at AUA. Before AUA, he was Senior Vice President of Research at Michael Porter’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. He has consulted with the World Bank, UNDP, and the Brookings Institution on energy efficiency as well as economic and urban growth issues. His current academic interests include urban environmental sustainability, “greening” the built environment, and circular economy esp. as it relates to “greening” cities. Alen holds a Masters in City Planning (’97) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
Email: alen(at)aua.am
Tel: +374 60 612690