Professional Experience

since 2001 - Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Stuttgart University, Stuttgart,

                     Germany, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, Germany

Guest Researcher

·      Work on the research project «Mammalian faunas from the Miocene of 

         South-Western Kazakhstan» (grant of the Volkswagen Foundation)

1999-2001 - Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Tübingen University,  

                    Tübingen, Germany

Guest Researcher

·      Work on the research project «Ways and regularities of the evolution of 

         Testudinata» (grant of the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation)

1995-1999 - Kapchagay Geological Survey at the Ministry of Ecology of the 

                     Kazakhstan Republic, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Leading paleontologist, Collection manager

1985- 1995 - Institute of Zoology of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences, Almaty, 

                      Kazakhstan

Junior Scientific worker (1989-1991), Scientific worker (1992-1995)

 Education

1992 - Ph.D., Institute of Geology of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, Georgia

1991 - M.D. in Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Institute of Paleobiology of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, Georgia

1990 – B.D. in Geology, Search and Prospecting of Natural Resources, Kazakh Polytechnic Institute, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Diploma in Engineering Geology, Kazakh Polytechnical Institute, Almaty, Kazakhstan

1985 – B.D. in Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Diploma in Zoology and Botany, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

 Grants and Fellowships

           ·        2002 - a grant of the Chelonian Research Institute, FL (USA);

·        2001 - a grant of the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany);

·        2000 - grants of the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation, 4 European Research Fellowships;

·        1999 - a grant of the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation on the project «Ways and regularities of the evolution of Testudinata»;

·        1998 - a grant of the DAAD on the project «Miocene Carnivores of South-Eastern Kazakhstan»;

·        1997 - a grant of the Third World Herpetological Congress;

·        1997 - a grant of the British Council (UK) for the participation in the ICVM;

·        1997 - a grant of the Ministère des Affairs Etrangères (France) for the participation in the Biochrom;

·        1995 - a grant of the French Ministère de l’Education Nationale (France) – organization, leadership and implementation of the international project «Oligocene-Miocene sequence stratigraphy and vertebrate paleontology of Western and Southern Betpakdala Steppe, South Kazakhstan»; 

·        1995 - a grant of the National Geographical Society (USA) - organization, leadership and implementation of the international project «Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic vertebrates: the Aral Sea Region, Kazakhstan»;

·        1994 - a grant of the University of Michigan (USA);

·        1993 - a grant on biodiversity of International Science Foundation after Soros (Russia);  

·        1993 - a grant of EarthWatch Foundation (USA) for the organization, leadership and implementation of research project «Cenozoic turtles of the Aktau Mountains, South-Eastern Kazakhstan»;

·        1990 - the T. Roosevelt grant of the American Museum of Natural History (USA), study of fossil and extant trionychids in the AMNH, MCZ, Florida State Museum, private collection of P. Pritchard.

·        1989 - American Express (Rome), the International Teriological Congress, Rome

 Publications

·        2 deposited monographs,

·        70 papers on a wide variety of vertebrate groups, including turtles, caudates, dinosaurs, lizards, rodents, carnivores, perissodactyls and artiodactyls; on analysis of the Central Asian faunas, biostratigraphy, paleoecology and mechanisms of evolution of some groups of vertebrates.  

 Membership

·        International Society of Vertebrate Paleontology,

·        Herpetological, and

·        Teriological Societies of Kazakhstan and Russia.

 Hobby

·        chess, ballet, guitar music, books                                                                                            

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