Assistant Director for Sustainable Development | Sep 2024 – Present
Research Scientist | Sep 2023 – Aug 2024
Assistant Research Scientist | Feb 2020 – Aug 2023

• Providing thought leadership and engaging researchers within Texas A&M and globally, while
  leading stakeholder driven projects on sustainable agrifood system transformation, Water-Energy
  Food nexus, disaster risk reduction, and energy transition, resulting in 89 highly cited (2600+)
  knowledge products to date, including high impact peer-reviewed journal articles (Nature
  Sustainability), book chapters (Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals), policy
  briefs (FAO, IWMI), and UN reports (FAO, UNESCO, IRENA, UNDESA).
• Representing the University and contributing to high-level internal, national, and international
  meetings, delivering over 100 invited talks, including a TEDx Talk, on systems approaches to
  sustainable development and the Water-Energy-Food nexus, representing case studies from the
  United States, Lebanon, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco, and Bangladesh, among others.
• Leading resource mobilization and coordination of project proposals for funding, evidenced by
  contributing to securing 13 grants totaling over USD 8.6 million from NSF, DoE, NIH, Microsoft,
  FAO, UNDRR, and GIZ (2020-2026) including projects on sustainable agrifood systems
  transformation, community engaged energy transition, climate change, and the water-energy
  food-health nexus.
• Directed the Convergence Research Incubator, providing strategic, financial, and mentorship
  oversight to an interdisciplinary cohort of 70 faculty across 10 colleges across Texas A&M
  System. Oversaw the allocation of USD 45,000 in seed funding, translating early-stage
  investments into multi-million-dollar externally funded projects, including a USD 750,000 NSF
  Convergence Research Accelerator award. 
• Co-led the design and implementation of four Collaborative Learning Schools in Uganda, Nigeria, Morocco, and the United States, and a Zero Hunger Hackathon to develop innovative solutions for food system challenges, while serving as external evaluator for the NSF-funded US– Africa Sustainable Food Systems through Water Energy Food Nexus Networking project (2022–2025); and building on earlier experience as program coordinator for the Texas A&M Water Energy Food Nexus Initiative (2015–2020).
• Co-edited a special issue titled “Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems in Times of Crises”, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems and Frontiers in Nutrition, while serving as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Sustainability, Resilience since 2022.
• Co-led the Zero Hunger Pathways Project (Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2020– 2023), producing policy recommendations for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and the UN Food Systems Summit, and organizing the Zero Hunger Pathways Dialogue Series.

Adjunct Assistant Professor | May 2020 - Present

• Collaborating on interdisciplinary research projects and proposals related to circular food systems, zero waste circular economies, and water-energy-food-health nexus.
• Co-instructing graduate course: “Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Toward Sustainable Resource Allocation” (2020-2023).
• Advising capstone project teams on sustainability related topics.

Research Fellow | Sep 2019 - Present

• Conducting research related to the social and public policy dimensions of water-energy-food- health nexus challenges, transitioning to resilient agricultural systems, transforming energy systems, and designing climate resilient coupled human-coastal infrastructure.

Senior Fellow | Mar 2025 - Dec 2025

• Served as Lead PI and Senior Fellow at the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, leading and contributing to an interdisciplinary research initiative examining the evolving role of universities in the AI era, with a focus on how higher education systems could respond to rapid technological change while supporting inclusive and future-ready workforce development.
  
• Led an interdisciplinary research team to analyze labor market skill demands in the AI economy, assessing the potential contribution of micro-credentials, and examining the evolving role of universities in sustaining foundational competencies alongside new credentialing models.
• Led the publication “Higher education’s dual role in the AI economy: Balancing foundational learning and micro-credential innovation” (Wiley).

Research Associate | Aug 2014 - Jan 2020

• Conducted quantitative and qualitative research focused on evaluating context-specific technical and policy interventions for improving water-energy-food system sustainability across different scales and regions globally, resulting in 26 peer-reviewed contributions and in receiving the 2019 Departmental Research Excellence Award.
• Developed and applied integrated sustainability and trade-off assessment tools to support decision-making across water, energy, and food sectors, and provided technical supervision and mentoring to doctoral and master’s researchers applying these tools in applied research contexts.
• Led multidisciplinary teams; conducted knowledge-sharing and inclusive engagement workshops bringing together governmental, private, and civil society stakeholders to discuss resource allocation challenges, cross-institutional cooperation, and policy coherence.
• Served as Programme Coordinator to the Texas A&M Water-Energy-Food Nexus Initiative, coordinating research, engagement, and capacity-building activities (2015–2020), mentoring an interdisciplinary team of 25 researchers WEF systems modeling, trade-off analysis, and governance, and supporting proposal development that led to the award of a USD 2.4 million NSF INFEWS grant; coordinated two Special Issues in Current & Sustainable Energy Reports and Science of the Total Environment.

Research Associate | Jun 2012 - Jul 2014

• Developed a quantitative decision support tool (Water-Energy-Food Nexus Tool 2.0) to aid Qatari government officials in evaluating the sustainability of different national food security scenarios; tool was highlighted in FAO’s Report “Walking the Nexus Talk” and cited 550+ times in academic and non-academic literature.
• Analyzed complex data from national databases and communicated the trade-offs associated with different scenarios through liaising with key actors and national stakeholders.

Research Assistant | Aug 2010 - May 2012

• Conducted research on multiple projects related to environmental sustainability, natural resource management, and decision support tools development.

Undergraduate Researcher | Oct 2009 - Jun 2010

• Project title: Civil and infrastructural upgrade of an informal setting in Sabra area, Beirut.