Mohammadreza Shahbazbegian is an Associate Professor at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, where he specializes in system dynamics and transboundary water management. He has introduced several innovative concepts, such as the Hydropolitical Self-Organization theory, Hydropolitical System Archetypes, Negotiable Water, and Painted Water. His research primarily examines water conflict analysis, focusing on system archetypes within international river basins, including the Helmand, Euphrates, Tigris, Nile, and Zambezi. In 2021, he founded the Iranian Water Diplomacy Association, which has grown to include over 300 members from various scientific disciplines. The association, recognized by Iran's Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology, acts as a key center for water diplomacy, with Shahbazbegian at the helm of its strategic initiatives. Ariel Dinar is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Environmental Economics and Policy in the School of Public Policy and Professor of the Graduate Division at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). His work addresses economic and strategic behavior associated with management of water and the environment. Dr Dinar worked at the World Bank on water and climate change economics and policy.

In 2008, Dr Dinar assumed a professorship at UCR and founded and directed the Water Science and Policy Center. He has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist since 2003 and was named a 2015 Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.