Our Team

Mariya Pak, PhD – Founder, Project Director 

Mariya is a consultant in international development and water resources management based in the Washington DC metro area. Mariya’s interests in conflict studies, natural resources management, development, and news media inspired her to create the CAW Project. You can learn more about Mariya on LinkedIn.

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Marin Ekstrom – CAW Research Assistant

Marin graduated from Central European University with an M.A. in International Relations. Marin’s research interests include Eurasian integration, foreign policy analysis, and cultural rights. Marin’s experience as a teacher in China and Russia inspired her additional interests in language acquisition and pedagogy. She can be contacted via LinkedIn. 

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Austen Dowell – CAW Research Associate

Austen is a graduate student at Columbia's Harriman Institute, where he researches Eurasian integrative and cooperative processes, resource management, and conflict resolution. He has studied and worked in Eurasia for over four years, and Austen also writes on the region as a Borun Forum Writing Fellow. He can be reached on LinkedIn or Twitter.

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Sidney Balaban – ERA Institute Intern, CAW Research Assistant (2018)

Sidney graduated Bard College with a B.A. in Russian and Eurasian Studies. Sidney is passionate about community building initiatives and regional cooperation in Eurasia. Sidney is also interested in journalism, language, law, environment, and geographic information systems.