Before joining IRDR, Qunli was working for UNESCO. His last position in UNESCO (June 2013-August 2017) was the Secretary of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and the Director of the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, which oversights a science cross-cutting team on DRR. He has been involved in the major post disaster response actions of UN since 2004 (tsunami and earthquakes in Indonesia, earthquake in Iran and floods in Pakistan). During 1980 to 1989, Qunli was a research fellow in the Commission for Integrated Survey of Natural Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

As Science Officer of IRDR, Fang Lian assists with the planning and implementation of IRDR’s mission. She serves as the primary contact for members of the IRDR community and helps with the design and organization of IRDR conferences, meetings, workshops and training. She is the focal point of IRDR Young Scientists Programme and devotes to promote the regional DRR capacity building and communication of the young professionals. She is the Core Group member of the Global Risk Science Research Framework initiated by ISC and UNDRR. She is also one of the major editors of the IRDR Working Paper Series. She works on science communication and education, co-design disaster risk reduction solutions toward multi-stakeholders, and science and policy dialogue. Before joining IRDR, her research focused on the disaster risk assessment and mapping especially on land degradation.

Lang joined the IRDR IPO as the Administrative Officer in June 2010 and supports the IRDR Programme by handling a broad spectrum of administrative and secretarial tasks, including creating, maintaining, and archiving reports and other office documents; making the necessary arrangements for travels, meetings, conferences, and other events; and acting as liaison with the accounting and administrative departments of the IPO’s host, RADI.