Nick Rowan – Editor-in-Chief of UK published magazine, Open Central Asia, and author of “Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey” that recounts his travel adventures along the Silk Road, Nick Rowan has an insatiable appetite for all things Central Asian. An Oxford University graduate, now working in the Oil industry for Shell in London, Nick spends much of his spare time exploring Central Asia, having travelled to all the countries on numerous occasions, his latest adventure spent two weeks tracking the Pamir Highway in 2011.

Ian Claytor is a British citizen who has been living in Kyrgyzstan since 1995 and has seen many changes in the country during that time. A former secondary school teacher of Religious Studies, Mathematics and Information Technology in Britain, he now runs a tour company and two hotels in Kyrgyzstan. His kaleidoscopic experience and interests fit well with the breadth and diversity by the different aspects of geography, history, wildlife and culture that can be found in his adopted home.

Dr Siddharth Saxena is a Fellow at Jesus College and the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. He was awarded the 2006 IUPAP Young Scientist Medal in the field of magnetism. He is also the Chairperson of the Cambridge Central Asia Forum and Honorary Secretary of the Committee for Central and Inner Asia. Recently, he has been Chair, advisory committee member of a number of international conferences such as the Gordon Conference, SCES series and Quantum Complexities in Condensed Matter. He has delivered plenary, key-note and invited talks at more than 70 international conferences during the last six years.