Armen Kazaryan
Co-Founder and Project  Director

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Armen Kazaryan was born in Kapan, a small town in the southeast of Armenia. At the age of 16 he moved to Russia and studied economics at Moscow State University after M. Lomonosov. He lived in Moscow till 2007, then until 2013 he lived in Sochi. Two years ago he returned to his home town with a great desire  to be of help to his homeland.

​His involvement in ARK fulfils his passion for the environment and improving the local area. He loves a healthy lifestyle, enjoys fitness training and loves spending time outdoors. He is also a certified masseur and will be offering his services at  ARK Camp. 
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Siranush Vardanyan
Co-Founder and Chairwoman

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Siranush Vardanyan was born in Gyumri, Armenia. She studied at Gyumri State Pedagogical University with a major in English. She loves teaching languages as it allows her to meet people from many different countries. Working  at ARK gives her a wonderful chance to meet international travelers and volunteers.  She never thought of farming seriously until she was acquainted with the ideas of organic permaculture.   Now she enjoys the taste of home grown strawberry, making jam with her own pears and she always looks for walnuts under the walnut tree in the garden.  She is ARK's administrator: a properly prepared business can never harm the environment or a healthy lifestyle. At least not at ARK.

Dr. Armen Bodoyan
Co-Founder and  Ecological Adviser

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Armen has a background in environmental law, policy and strategy and has worked extensively in environmental management. He has coordinated scientific research in the region and worldwide concerning environmental and social impact assessments, hydrology and water resources.   As a member of the ARK team, he hopes to bring his extensive knowledge and spirit of environmentalism, help on environmental construction and design of the camping area, develop and guide environmental tours for guests and manage environmental initiatives and projects of ARK in the Syunik region. ​

Oscar Alvarado 
Environmental Director

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Oscar is global nomad that has traveled and worked around the world on a wide range of large and small scale environmental projects. He ended up in Armenia in 2014 through Armenian Volunteer Corps and most recently was a Project Manager at the Acopian Centre for the Environment of the American University of Armenia. While working as an environmental scientist in Kapan, Oscar became heavily involved with ARK Armenia from the beginning. He is passionate about nature and sustainable development and hopes that ARK Armenia is the beginning of a shift towards a green economy in the region. 

Karine Vann
​Creative Lead

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Karine moved to Armenia from the Washington DC area in the summer of 2014 and it has been one adventure after the next. Her formal background is in music, but since arriving to Armenia, she has worn many different hats. She's worked in many well-known, local Armenian organizations, such as ONEArmenia and  PicsArt, as well as international ones, like Smithsonian Institution and USAID. She currently writes  freelance for the My Armenia program, a project to develop rural tourism by Smithsonian and USAID,  and is also an amateur designer and photographer. Creatively directing campaigns for ARK's beautiful campgrounds is a passion project she is  always happy to undertake.

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Naira Avanesyan
Organizational and Educational Adviser

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Naira was born in Kapan, Armenia. She has lived here all her life except for the years when she was attending university in Yerevan.  All her life has been connected with children and education.  Mostly, she looks upon life from their perspectives. Therefore, she is always looking into  future. She wants the children of Kapan to be healthy and to live in better ecological conditions.  Working in state bodies, she has learned to take responsibility and make weighted decisions.  She immediately noticed the appearance of ARK in Kapan's social life and joined the team  at the first opportunity. She hopes her rich educational and organizational experience will be of great help to ARK.

Astghik Davtyan
Communications Assistant

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Astghik is an Armenian born and raised in Ukraine. Her family is originally from Lori marz. Astghik studied International Tourism Management at Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. She first came to Armenia in 2014 as a volunteer with Birthright Armenia, where she worked as a Research Assistant with the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).  Currently she is working to spread awareness of ARK's activities and to reach new audiences who might be interested in responsible ecotourism in Armenia. Her language skills and passion for nature make her a valuable member of the ARK team.