Profile
Gergana Balieva
Gergana Balieva was born on 15th October 1981 in Bulgaria. In 2007 she graduated with honors at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Trakia University, StaraZagora as a veterinary surgeon, MSc, DVM. The same year, she had been appointed as a full-time assistant professor at Veterinary Legislation and Management Unit at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Trakia University.
Dr. Gergana Balieva gained her PhD degree in “Zoohygiene and Organization of Veterinary Services” in 2015. Since 2017, she holds the academic position of Associate Professor in “Public Veterinary Affairs and Legislation” at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Trakia University.
Dr. Balieva`s main responsibilities are focused on teachiang and training of students, research and scientific writing, supervision of PhD students, provision of postgraduate short- and long-term specialization courses, provision of professional expertise in veterinary legislation and forensics.
She participates as a regular member of the expert group for Reducing the Risk of Disasters at the Municipality of Stara Zagora since 2017.
Dr. Gergana Balieva is responsible for development of curricula, implementation and update of educational resources, including e-resources. Besides teaching and training of students and postgraduates she supervises PhD students. As an academic staff member she takes part in scientific and educational projects development. In line with her work she maintains communication and mutual collaboration with stakeholders (veterinary practitioners, NGOs, governmental institutions, etc.).
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gergana-Balieva
Livestock farmers state of disaster preparedness (Bulgaria)
Bulgaria is a small agricultural country on the Balkan peninsula, situated in the Mediterranean seismic zone and prone to bushfires and flash floods. According to the National Institute of Statistics, floods and fires were the most common events registered for the past decade with huge economic losses, including animals and production. For the purpose of building resilience, especially among small and medium sized animal holdings, the present study investigated the level of disaster preparedness among livestock farmers in Bulgaria through an anonymous written questionnaire. The results showed that 69.2% of the participants in the survey were men compared to 30.8% women, 73.1% of all respondents were 30-60 years old and 50% of them lived in rural areas. The study found that 96.2% of the respondents were aware of the common disaster hazards in their residential area. The farmers were prepared to approach the relevant public health authorities (100.0% of them), respectively animal health services (88.5%) in case of emergency. If emergency evacuation is needed, more than 80% of the respondents would relocate without their animals in emergency situation. Their intention was statistically significant in men and dependent on the number of animals kept on the farm.