I am an an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Geography at Old Dominion University, where I lead The Asl Research Group. I am also a faculty affiliate at the Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR).

My research, at the intersection of hazards geography and nature-based solutions, tackles the challenges of integrating nature-based solutions’ various spatial and social characteristics in disaster vulnerability and hazards frameworks across diverse contexts and scales. I employs advanced geospatial techniques, remote sensing, and spatial statistical analyses to examine the complex relationships between various types of nature-based solutions, social vulnerability indicators, and hazard outcomes.

I have over 30 publications in academic journals including Science of the Total Environment, Progress in Physical Geography, Natural Hazards, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Applied Geography, Environmental Hazards, Urban Design International (See the full list in Google Scholar), and several conference papers. I currently serve as co-author for the chapter 8: Mitigation Matters in the Third Assessment of Natural Hazards in the United States. I also serves as the co-director of the Hazards, Risks, and Disasters Specialty Group (HRDSG) at AAG and the editorial board member in Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy journal.

I received my first Ph.D. in landscape from Iran University of Science and Technology and the second Ph.D. in Geography from Temple University in Philadelphia. Before joining to ODU, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University’s Canter for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE).