Pavel Kabat has an MSc in Hydrology and Water Resources and a PhD in Hydrology, Water Resources and Amelioration. He is currently Full Professor and Chair Holder, Earth System Science and Climate, Chair Board of the Wageningen Climate Centre, Science Director and Council Chair, Netherlands National Climate Research Programme. His interests are land- atmosphere interactions and (terrestrial) biogeochemical feedbacks (measurements and modelling); climate hydrology and the water cycle; climate and water resources; the climate system and climate change; and global change. Pavel Kabat has authored a number of publications and has been lead author in several major international scientific assessments. He is member of various academies of science and the recipient of several national and international awards.

Taikan Oki is a Professor at Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Japan. He was was a lead author for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). His research covers the fields of atmospheric hydrology and global water resources engineering, including world water resources assessment and the virtual water trade, impacts of climate change on hydrological extremes and water resources management. He was awarded the Japan Academy Medal in 2008 for his research on predicting the variations of global hydrological cycles and the balance of world water resources. In 2003, he received the Tison Award from the International Association of Hydrological Sciences for the publication “Global assessment of current water resources using total runoff integrating pathways”.

Eugene Z. Stakhiv is currently appointed as US Co-Director, International Joint Commission (IJC) Upper Great Lakes Study, that will look for sustainable operation of the Great Lakes under various climate scenarios. He is also Technical Director of the recently nominated UNESCO International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM), and a member of the Global Water Partnership Steering Committee. Served as Scientific Attache to US UNESCO Ambassador in Paris (May – Aug, 2004) and as Senior Advisor to Iraq’s Ministry of Irrigation from April 13-Sep 20, 2003. He was Chief, Planning, Policy and Special Studies Division, Institute for Water Resources(1990-2004). He served as first Co-chair for IPCC-I Water Resources and Hydrology Committee, and as Lead Author for IPCC-II and IPCC-III. Dr. Stakhiv has extensive international experience, primarily with the World Bank, serving as senior advisor to the water Ministries of Bangladesh, Ukraine, Armenia, Iraq and Aral Sea Basin countries.. He has a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, and authored 75 published papers and 150 technical reports.

Kapil Dev Sharma is a technical expert (water management) at the National Rainfed Area Authority, New Delhi, India. He is also an honorary visiting professor in the Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. From 2003 to 2008, he was Director of the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee. From 2000 to 2003, he was Head of the Division of Resource Management, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, and Head of the Division of Resource Management, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad. Kapil has held a number of other positions: senior scientist and principal scientist at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur; and scientist, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Shillong. Kapil has been a visiting fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Soil Erosion Research, and at the Winand Staring Centre, the Netherlands, Satellite Hydrology. He has received numerous awards, such as the NAAS Recognition Award, USDI Appreciation Certificate, National Hydrology Award , and European Commission Marie Curie Bursary. Kapil is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. His research focuses on arid zone hydrology, numerical modelling of hydrological processes, satellite hydrology, soil erosion prediction and control, soil and water conservation engineering, sediment transport and deposition, rainwater harvesting and runoff farming, water resources development, watershed management, drought management and rehabilitation of degraded lands.

Dr. Lall received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 1981. At Columbia University, he is the Alan and Carol Silberstein Professor of Engineering, Chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, and Senior Research Scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society. Prior to joining Columbia University, he was a professor for the University of Utah and Utah State University. He has over 20 years of experience as a hydrologist. Lall's principal areas of expertise are statistical and numerical modeling of hydrologic climatic systems and water resource systems planning and management.

Dr. Cecilia Tortajada is President of the International Water Resources Association; Scientific Director of the International Centre on Water and Environment, Zaragoza, Spain; Visiting Professor of the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy, Singapore; and Vice President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico. She has been an advisor to major international institutions like FAO, UNDP, InWEnt, and has worked in 14 countries in Africa, Asia, North and South America and Europe on various aspects of water resources and environmental management and governance-related issues. She is currently working on formulation of national and international policies for water governance; management of future global environmental and water-related issues; development of innovative approaches for poverty alleviation through regional development; and capacity building in the water sector. She is the Editor of the "International Journal of Water Resources Development", and member of the Editorial Board of the "Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research".

From 2008 to the present, Dr. Ziniu Xiao works with National Climate Center (Beijing Climate Center)/CMA as Director-general of NCC(BCC)/CMA and Research Scientist on weather forecast, climate predication and climate change. He used to be Director-general and Research Scientist at the Meteorological Bureau of Yunnan Province for almost two years (7/2006- 2/2008), and from 3/2004- 7/2006, he used to be Deputy Director-general and Research Scientist at the National Meteorology Center/CMA in Beijing, China.