Founders & Core Team Members
Mohammad Javad Torabi
Irene Shivaei
Kazem Kookaram
Houman Najafi
Siavash Safarianpour
StarPeace Colleagues
Neda B. Mobara
Mohammad H. Almasi
Amin Jamshidi
Argin Matousian
Fatemeh H. Niari
StarPeace Project Advisor:
Anousheh Ansari
Support Team Members:
Mehdi Torabi, Internet Strategist
Hadi Habibnejad, Art Director
StarPeace Ambassadors
Manoj Pai, India
Azhi Chato Hassan, Iraq
Dr. Armando Lee, the Philippines
Dr. Virgiliu Pop, Romania
Dr. Mhd Firas Safadi, Syria
Prof. Shawqi Al-Dallal, Bahrain
Dr. Jin Zhu, China - Nanjing
Suresh Bhattarai, Nepal
Thilina Heenatigala, Sri Lanka
Hasan Ahmad AlHariri, United Arab Emirates
Avivah Yamani, Indonesia
Hassaan Ghazali, Pakistan
Wilson Amooro, Ghana
Marcelo de Oliveira Souza, Brazil
Gernot Meiser, Germany
Martin Stojanovski, Macedonia
Ahid Rasheed, Maldives
Paul Moss, New Zealand
Mohammed Yahya Al-Hijri, Oman
StarPeace Coordinators
Dr. Areg Mickaelian, Armenia
Dr. Tibor Asztalos, Hungary
Yunos Bakhshi, Afghanistan
Felipe Bressiani, Brazil
Ivaylo Dinev, Bulgaria
C B Devgun, India
Narendra Sagar Gor, India
Khalid Marwat, Pakistan
Andrei Juravle, Romania
Kis Lajos, Serbia
Drago Josovic, Serbia
Enes Dr Maljevac, Serbia
Oriol de la Calle i Pinós, Spain
Mohammed Al-Usairy, Syria
Mponda Malozo, Tanzania
M. Koffi Tano Kan Alexandre, Cote d'lvoire
Patrick Craig, United States
Mike Feinstein, United States
Mohammad Javad Torabi, born in 1985 is a science journalist. People know him by Astronomical News of Asemane Shab (Night Sky) TV program in IRIB4. Aseman Shab is the longest popular science TV program in Iran. He writes articles for Nojum magazine (Astronomy magazine of Iran) and worked for Nojumnews website for about a year from 2007. From 2002, He has done a lot of promoting activities in amateur astronomy in Iran like having cooperation with Astronomical Society of Iran, amateur committee, in holding monthly Astronomy Club of Tehran and annually activities such as Astronomy Day, Space Day, Sidewalk Astronomy Night, etc. Torabi teaches astronomy for children. He works with Zaferanieh Educational Observatory as a teacher. Zaferanieh is one of the oldest educational astronomy centers in Iran. In 2003-2004 he participated in a group which designed the first web-based planetarium software in Iran. Now he is undergraduate in Bachelor degree of Physics in Amirkabir University of Tehran and in Journalism in Iranian Centre for Research and Development of Media.
Irene Shivaei, born in 1988 started her activities in amateur astronomy by going to Zaferanieh Educational Observatory in Tehran, in 2002. Her deep interest in astronomy is observing the sky and sketching celestial objects. She is participating in an international sketching exhibition in Ireland in International Year of Astronomy 2009. She has the ability to navigate the sky with binoculars and manual telescopes. She was the winner of two Iran's national Messier Marathons and after that she has been chosen as a referee for national sky observing competitions. Shivaei is studying Bachelor of Physics in University of Tehran. She works as a science journalist and writes astronomy articles for Nojum magazine (Astronomy magazine of Iran) and some other Iranian scientific magazines and newspapers. In 2007 she had an expedition to Antarctica which made her the first Iranian citizen woman who went to Antarctica.
Kazem Kookaram, born in 1983 interested in astronomy when he was a child but started his activities in amateur astronomy by going to Zaferanieh Educational Observatory in Tehran, in 1999. His deep interest in astronomy is observing the sky in various subjects. He has the ability to navigate the sky with binoculars and manual telescopes. He was the winner of 4th Iran's national Messier Marathons and after that he has been chosen as a referee for this competition. Kookaram is Bachelor of Natural resources in University of Mazandaran. He works as an astronomy journalist and manager of monthly sky part that writes astronomical articles for Nojum magazine (Astronomy magazine of Iran). He is the member of astronomy group in Pishgaman-IKT that produces scientific electronic contents and designed the first web-based planetarium software in Iran. He is the manager of Sufi observing competition that is international competition and is like Messier Marathon but more difficult with various objects and he is the referee in this competition too. He was the teacher of observing astronomy for Iran's Olympiad astronomy team that had been participated in International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Indonesia, summer 2008. He teaches astronomy at Zaferanieh Educational Observatory in Tehran that is one of the oldest and most valid educational astronomy centers in Iran.
Houman Najafi, born in 1972 in Tehran, is an ecotourism leader. In his youth he was interested in managing trips for his friends and family to show Tehran and Iran's attractions; following his hobby and interest he passed different classes in Iran Cultural Heritage Handicraft and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), such as Ecotourism Leadership ICHHTO, Teacher Training, etc. He started his work from being an ordinary employee in supportive part of a tour and then experienced every responsibility in a touristic company. In 2000 with the birth of Tourism Education and Research company he cooperate with them for 6 years for free and after managing and holding tours for the company he started teaching there. Najafi traveled to a lot of Asian and European countries to introduce Persian culture and Iran's nature and inviting other people to visit Iran. He held Iran's Art Festival and seasonal seminars for introducing Iran's tourism attractions in Netherland. He has a close cooperation with ICHHTO such as holding ecotourism seminars in most of the cities of Iran, participating in Iran's national ecotourism comity, etc. Besides his activities in tourism industry, since 2004 he has had cooperation with Astronomical Society of Iran, Amateur Committee. He helped them to hold first and second Sufi competition, an international observing competition in Iran. Now he starts serious cooperation with active amateur astronomy groups in Iran to promote astronomy through the country.
Siavash Safarianpour, is a famous TV-presenter who has The Night Sky (Asemaneshab in Persian) TV show live on IRIB4 Channel. The Night Sky is the only program that is specialized for astronomy and it is the longest scientific program in the history of Iranian TV channels, so more than 500 episodes have been broadcasted and is the most popular program of the Channel 4. He is also known by the Forge program, which is presented by him. Forge is another live scientific show that focused on scientific researches in Iran. Safarianpour, has many experiences in Radio and TV programming. Safarianpoor looked to the sky through a telescope, when he was 14. He performed his first astronomy TV program with the appearance of Hail Bopp Comet. He won the 10th Iranian Science Promotion Prize. He has held many astronomy photography exhibitions in Iran and abroad. Now he is an undergraduate in Journalism in Iranian Centre for Research and Development of Media. Safarianpoor is an astrophotographer who traveled from Venezuela up to Siberia for catching the shadow of solar eclipses. He teaches astrophotography from 2002 in many astronomical communities.