Dr. Raphael V. Vartanov has been a Senior Associate at the Urban Harbors Institute since September 1994. He brings years of experience as a scientists working for academic institutions, an environmental science and policy advisor; consultant on business, environment and finance; advisor on environmental security and the world oceans; and specialist on sustainable development.

Dr. Vartanov has a M.S. (1974) in Engineering from the Moscow Aviation Institute. He has a doctoral degree (1979) in Economics from the Scientific Council of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia. He did Post Graduate Studies in International Economics at IMEMO, Russia.

During his career, Dr. Vartanov has been President (1998-present) of the International Business, Environment and Finance Consulting Corporation. He served as a Senior Environmental Science and Policy Advisor/Project Director for the Education Development Center, Inc. He was a Senior Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Policy Center. And, he worked from the late 70s through mid 80s for the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Economy and International Relations in Russia.

His academic and international consulting experience includes:

• Current working under USAID/Moscow's FOREST Project as a Renewable Energy Policy Specialist, working for Winrock International
• Renewable Energy Development Specialist for the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Senior Environmental Science and Policy Advisor for the Educational Development Center working as a Director on the Murmansk Region-Barents Sea Sustainable Development Project sponsored by UNDP and the Russian Federation
• Senior Fellow/Principal Investigator for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on a study of "Environmental Security and the World Ocean: Analytical Approaches and Shared Solutions" co-funded by the MacArthur Foundation and the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as on the joint US/Canadian/Russian/Norwegian study of "Radioactivity and Environmental Security in the Ocean", and other projects.
• Principal Investigator/Contractor for the Secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) on a study of Population, Industrial Development and the Environment
• Team Leader for the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Economy and International Relations on a study of a International Environmental Governance and Security, International Environmental Regime for the Arctic, Coastal Zone Management, Assessment of the Ocean Policy and other studies for various Russian governmental and non governmental institutions.