Prior to my Ph.D., I worked for eight years as scientific coordinator for the above 10 national and international projects on water management and sustainable agriculture in Iran, including the UNESCO-UNU projects AQUITOPIA (Aquifer Management-based Utopia, 2008-2014) and GWAHS (Ground Water and Human Security, 2009-2011). These projects applied multifaceted ecosystem strategies to improve resilience of dryland ecosystems to drought and soil salinity. Together, we developed new business models for sustainable agriculture, reconciliating economic and environmental interests in fragile dryland ecosystems.
Ph.D.,. In 2013, I sought to extend my scientific expertise by starting a PhD in plant biotechnology at Shiraz University, Iran. I demonstrated that a plant’s ability to tolerate and accumulate heavy metals was to a large extent dependent on its associated microbiome. This project was awarded the “environmental applied research support prize” by the Fars Environmental Protection Agency and the Fars province, Iran.
Subsequently, I obtained a fellowship from Utrecht University (UU) to continue my PhD under the supervision of Prof. G.A. Kowalchuk, Dr. A. Jousset (Ecology & Biodiversity) and Prof. L.A.C.J. Voesenek, Dr. R. Sasidharan (Plant Ecophysiology). This project led to a new paradigm for understanding and predicting plant-microbe interactions. The framework I developed moves away from testing plant-microbe interactions from a plant versus microbial perspective. In this framework, I unify plant and microbial traits into a systems biology or “holobiont” perspective. In this approach, the plant phenotype is the collective product of plant genes, its microbiome and the environment, allowing for unprecedented predictions and improvements in plant stress tolerance. I have published in highly regarded journals in ecology, microbiology, and environmental sciences, including The ISME Journal, Microbiome, and Journal of Ecology. This work has enjoyed wide-spread visibility, as illustrated by two invitations for keynote addresses at international conferences, two invited lectures in NJAU, China, ShirazU, Iran, and one talk in miCROPe, all in 2019. In my current post-doc project, I combine my insight into plant-microbiome management with nanotechnology to enhance plant immunity (EU-H2020 project “Viroplant”).
Network: During my early career, I have gained a unique set of scientific and management skills, working at top-level research institutions, NGOs and SMEs. I have further established a solid international and multidisciplinary scientific network in the EU, Asia, Canada, and the US.
Teaching: In addition to research and valorisation, I have a strong teaching record in Iran (supervising eight courses in Agriculture applied university, Shiraz, Iran), and the Netherlands, supervising six bachelor- and three master-level courses and being the main supervisor of five master and four bachelor thesis at the UU. I have co-supervised three Ph.D. student projects, one currently at UU, and three in the framework of a UU collaboration with Aligarh University, India, Shiraz University, and Tehran University, Iran. I am an active member of UU BANC (Building-Acquisition & Networking-Competences) in UU. I am planning to obtain my teaching qualification (BkoZ) in 2021.
Editorial and NGOs: I am frequent reviewer for high-standing journals such as The ISME Journal, Microbiome, Environmental and Experimental Botany and Applied Microbiology. I am the principal coordinator of the NGO “Research Society for Sustainable Rehabilitation of Drylands” since 2008. I was the executive manager of the "water management Journal (national level journal)" during 2007-2011.
Entrepreneurship and funding: I have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and am a founding member of the Dutch Spin-off “Blossom Microbial Technologies” and the Iranian SME “Payeshzist”(2009-2013), which both work toward sustainable biologically based practice in agriculture. I have secured funding from national and international agencies: I was co-PI of UENSCO-UNU funded projects, AQUITOPIA (700k$-2008), and GWAHS (15k$-2010) in Iran and was awarded a PhD grant by UU (100k€-2015) and various personal grants from the Iranian Ministry of Science (8k€-2014), the Iranian Environmental Protection Agency (5k€-2013), and NJAU-China (2k€-2019), and NWO, as co-investigator of take-off project (40K, 2019).