Teachings and Invited Talks (Selected)
Spring 2021
2025
Panelist, National Academies of Sciences
What are the affordances and challenges of digital media for learning and engaging in science and engineering?
2025
Co-facilitator, Burroughs Welcome Fund
Workshop on strategic science communictaion
2024 - 25
Workshop facilitator and designer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Workshops on SciComm strategizing and building trust with audiences.
2024 - 25
Workshop facilitator and speaker, National Geographic Society
Workshops on storytelling for Explorers and the Manila-based Mind Museum. Speaker on the science of SciComm at the NatGeo Storytelling Summit and the Explorer Fest.
2021 - Present
Workshop facilitator, panelist & mentor, NEWF
Facilitating workshops on trust, vulnurability, and narrative transportation for the NEWF filmmaking community across Africa.
2020 - 23
Workshop facilitator & mentor, Jackson Wild Media Lab
How to build trust with our audience in media. based on examples of shows and films in science doc.
2023
Workshop facilitator, Metcalf Instutute SCIP Program
Workshop on storytelling
2023
Keynote speaker, ECC Engineering Communicators Conference
Talk focuse don teh social science behind communictaion best practices.
2022
Workshop Facilitator, Kavli Foundation
Workshop on building trust and being vulnurable as scientists.
2022
Workshop Facilitator, Generation180's Climate Comedy Cohort
Workshop on changing attitude and behavior in science communictaion
2021
Speaker, PBS
PBS Editorial Standards Webinar: Fairness, Not False Equivalence
2021
Conversation moderator with Prof. Katharine Hayhoe, JFK Library Forum
2021
Workshop facilitator, Hubbard Brook Foundation
Empathy in science communication especially as it relates to controversial science topics for the Young Voices of Science program.
2020
Panelist, MIT COMM
2020
Workshop facilitator, UNC-Chapel Hill
Facilitating an interactive workshop in developing empathy skills as scientists.
2019 - 20
Workshop facilitator, ComSciCon National
Facilitating an interactive workshop in developing empathy skills as scientists.
2019
Instructor, Northwestern University
A Compassionate Scientist’s Toolkit: A research credit course for an undergraduate student.
2019
Storyteller, The Storycollider Podcast
A story about a new planet, an immigrant, and breaking a car with one’s knee.
2018-19
Teaching Assistant, Northwestern University
TA for the Media, Communication, and Environment course, undergraduate level and for video editing course as a part of the Research Communication Training. TA for the Health Communication course, undergraduate level.
2016 - 2019
Workshop facilitator, Adler Planetarium
Quarterly workshops, teaching science communication and storytelling to speakers of the Adler Planetarium's Space Visualization Lab.
Community Organizing (Selected)
2025 - Present
Story Craft: The Stories We Tell and The Science Behind It
A National Geographic grant in collaboration with SciComm Lab. Building a community of scientists, communicators, and social scientists to exchange skills.
2021 - Present
Advisory Council - Jackson Wild
Advisory member offering feedback on initiatives to increase the accessibility of the Jackson Wild programs.
2021 - 2024
Advisory Committee, AAAS - DoSER
Advisory member offering guidance on strategies to connect with different religious communities for science outreach.
2020 - 2022
DEI co-chair, ComSciCon
Developing and organizing a support team for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
2019 - 2022
Producer, The Story Collider
“Story Collider is a non-profit dedicated to true, personal stories about science.”
2016 - 2020
Chair and organizer, ComSciCon
A workshop series for graduate students, focused on science communication skills. I have been involved with the Chicago flagship as chair and organizer and with the national workshop as organizer.
2018 - 2020
Founder and facilitator, Tea and Talk
Mental health support group for grad students at the school of communication.
2012 - 2015
Project manager, SEPAS NGO
Managed and proposed the cancer prevention and palliative care campaign, renewal of Fars hospice’s meditation room, and medical-info translation team.
2012 - 2015
Project manager, Imam Ali NGO
Managing new volunteers for the play/art therapy sessions at children hospitals.
SKILLS
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
ADOBE PREMIERE
ADOBE AFTER EFFECT
AUDITION AUDITION
ADOBE FRESCO MOTION
HTML
CSS
FARSI (NATIVE)
ENGLISH (FLUENT)
GERMAN (INTERMEDIATE)
ARABIC (ELEMENTARY)
SPSS
R
ATLAS.TI
DEDOOSE
Other Experiences
Summer 2017
Copywriter, Science Ninja board game
2013 - 2015
Grief facilitator, Fars Hospice
2013 - 2016
Copywriter, WorldWriters
2012 - 2013
Copywriter and creative producer, Magnolia Advertising Agency
2008 - 2014
farsi interpreter/assistant to NYT, WSJ, Spiegel, Stern, ARTE
2006 - 2007