I am currently a PhD candidate in the Entomology program at Virginia Tech, and I anticipate graduation in spring 2024. I am originally from Iran where I earned my B.Sc. in Plant Protection as well as my first M.Sc. in Plant Pathology from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. After graduation, I started my job as a Pest Management Specialist in the Iran Department of Agriculture, Mashhad, Iran, where I improved my knowledge and experience in identifying and managing pests and diseases in field crops and orchards, working directly with stakeholders and producers.

To improve my knowledge of Entomology, I got my second M.Sc. in Entomology from the University of Idaho, Moscow, where I expanded my experience in Integrated Pest Management to manage wireworm damage in cereal production on the PNW of the US.

Through my Ph.D. program,  my research focuses on evaluating different components of IPM  to reduce wireworms damage in both conventional cereal production and vegetable organic farming. I have evaluated biological control agents including entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi against wireworms under control conditions and field trials. I also investigated the effects of bioinsecticides such as mustard products on wireworm survivorship as well as beneficial soil microorganisms in cereal fields. Finally, I evaluated the novel RNAi against wireworms by injecting constructed dsRNA to knock down wireworms essential genes as a promising alternative approach to control insects.