PhD Student Selected As Carson Scholar

Hamid Ghaderi knew at an early age what his life’s calling would be. All he had to do was look around at the environmental conditions where he grew up in Tehran, Iran.

“As a kid, I would see it every day – all of the pollution related to industrial and urban environments, especially the waterways,” said Ghaderi, who is now earning his PhD in SIE. “This early exposure to the dire environmental landscape only served to reinforce my dedication to do something about it.”

This drive led Ghaderi to conduct environmental research, for which he earned a place in the Carson Scholars Program. As one of the University of Arizona’s 12 2020 Carson Scholars, Ghaderi will have a chance to further the work he’s long been committed to doing. The program, housed in the UA Institute of the Environment, provides support to the next generation of environmental researchers. In addition to $5,000 scholarships, recipients receive an academic year’s worth of training in science communication.

“The program can help me figure out how to communicate my research to diverse audiences and gather funding for projects that I am passionate about,” he said. “I hope that leads to me being comfortable with presenting my ideas to different stakeholders who have different backgrounds.”

Ghaderi's research also focuses on techno-economic analysis, life cycle assessment, and developing decision making tools for hard drive value recovery in the United States.