Dr. Zainab Ashkanani, Ph.D.

• 2025 — Present

  Assistant Research Scientist

  Texas A&M University — Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, and Energy Institute · College Station, TX

  • Leading AI–WEFH Nexus research programs, federal proposal development, and international collaborations across the U.S., GCC, and EU.
• 2024 — 2025

  Postdoctoral Fellow

  Texas A&M University, Energy Institute · College Station, TX

• 2021 — 2024

  Postdoctoral Researcher / Consultant

  Petroleum Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) · Al-Ahmadi, Kuwait — concurrent with Ph.D.

  • Established a specialized laboratory for chemical-engineering projects targeting environmental contamination.
  • Developed environmentally friendly polymer alternatives, advancing sustainable materials science.
  • Advised on Water-Energy-Food-Health Nexus strategies for petroleum-sector and national-policy applications.
• 2021 — 2024

  Graduate Research Assistant

  Texas A&M University, Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering · College Station, TX

  • Optimized Advanced Photo-Oxidation (AOP) treatment systems, processing 1,500+ oil-contaminated soil samples with ~99% removal efficiency.
  • Developed neural-network and remote-sensing models for detection and quantification of oil contamination.
  • Designed an integrated decision-support platform for soil-remediation workflows.
• 2013 — 2019

  Researcher & Instructor

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, College of Health Sciences · Milwaukee, WI

  • Investigated health impacts of environmental contaminants, including links to cancer and autoimmune diseases.
  • Instructor of record for undergraduate Biology and Health Sciences courses; designed and delivered curricula incorporating active research findings.

• 2021 — 2024

  Ph.D., Biological & Agricultural Engineering

  Texas A&M University · College Station, TX, USA

• 2006 — 2009

  M.Sc., Medical Biotechnology

  Arabian Gulf University · Bahrain

• 2005 — 2006

  Diploma in Biotechnology

  Arabian Gulf University · Bahrain

• 1999 — 2005

  B.Sc., Microbiology & Molecular Biology

  Kuwait University · Kuwait

Active & awarded

• NIH-Funded Project — Co-Principal Investigator. Examining health dimensions within the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Jordan.
• GCC Emergency Management Center — Risk Assessment Tool Developer. Building a risk-assessment tool that analyzes crises through the WEFH Nexus lens, supporting evidence-based emergency management across GCC member states.
• Agricultural University of Athens, Greece — Sustainability Research Lead. Contributing to the world's first Water-Energy-Food-Climate Nexus dual master's program (TAMU–AUA); leading AI integration for WEF Nexus systems.
• GIWP / World Bank / UNESCO — Water-Economy-Ecology Nexus Researcher. Supporting the UN International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development through WEE Nexus framework development.
• Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC), Egypt — Curriculum Development Lead. Developing Associate and Bachelor of Technology programs in Agricultural Irrigation Engineering at Elsewedy University of Technology, aligned with U.S. educational standards.

1. Ashkanani, Z., & Pappas, K. (2026). Securing Our Future: A Water-Energy-Food Nexus Approach to Resource Scarcity and Human Mobility in the Middle East. The Takeaway: Policy Briefs from the Mosbacher Institute, 17(2). bush.tamu.edu

2. Daher, B., Ashkanani, Z., et al. (2026). Higher Education's Dual Role in the AI Economy: Balancing Foundational Learning and Micro-Credential Innovation. In Degrees of Change: What AI Means for Education and the Next Generation (pp. 130–140). Wiley.

3. Ashkanani, Z., Mohtar, R., Al-Enezi, S., Khalil, F., Al-Momin, M., Ma, X., et al. (2026). Efficacy of advanced Fenton-photo systems for the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons using complex neural networks. RSC Advances, 16(3), 1993–2006. doi.org/10.1039/d5ra07305g

4. Albatayneh, R., Mohtar, R., Ashkanani, Z., Daher, B., & Al-Delaimy, W. K. (2025). Integrating Health in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Comprehensive Review. Current Environmental Health Reports, 12(1), 52. doi.org/10.1007/s40572-025-00516-4

5. Ashkanani, Z., et al. (2025). Integrating Neural Network Approaches with Remote Sensing for Detection and Prediction of Oil Contamination. Journal of Hazardous Materials. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139245

6. Ashkanani, Z., et al. (2025). Elucidating the role of engineered cerium oxide nanoparticles on soil-water capacity properties: A pedostructure perspective. ACS Applied Engineering Materials. doi.org/10.1021/acsaenm.5c00242

7. Ashkanani, Z., & Mohtar, R. (2025). AI-powered environmental monitoring for urban industrial disaster prevention. In 2025 IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2) (pp. 1–6). IEEE. doi.org/10.1109/ISC2...11293342

8. Pappas, K., Mohtar, R., Daher, B., & Ashkanani, Z. (2025). Securing Our Future: A WEF Nexus Approach to Climate Risks, Resource Scarcity, and Human Mobility in the Middle East. In NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security. Springer, Dordrecht.

9. Ashkanani, Z., et al. (2024). AI-Assisted Systematic Review on Remediation of Contaminated Soils with PAHs and Heavy Metals. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 133813. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133813

10. Azenabor, A. (2014). Immunology for the Medical Sciences (1st ed.). Kendall Hunt Publishing. Book Graphics Designer

Eight operational research platforms — seven built end-to-end as sole developer and creator, one as contributing developer (WEF Nexus Tool 2.0+).

• Invited Speaker — AI in Practice, Global Semiconductor Training Program, Tarleton State University, Texas2026
• Invited Panelist — Addressing Water Challenges for AI & Data Centres, IWRA Webinar Series2026
• Invited Speaker — The Smart Water Revolution, ICC World Technology Convention, Mumbai2026
• Invited Speaker — AI in Education, NSF CURB Technology-AI Seminar2026
• Invited Speaker — AI in Agriculture, XIX World Water Congress, Morocco2025
• Invited Speaker — 7th Pan-African Conference of Agricultural Engineering, Morocco2025
• Invited Speaker — IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2), Greece2025
• Invited Speaker — Climate Change & Health in the Arab Region Joint Conference, Jordan2025
• Invited Speaker — 2nd Edition of the WEFE Nexus Forum, Tangier, Morocco2025
• Two Oral Presentations — ADIPEC, world's largest energy conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE2023
• Oral Presentation — AI Applications in Environmental Monitoring, XVIII World Water Congress, China2023

• 2026 Winning Team, TEES Annual Research Conference Team "The Resilience Architects" — Resilient CyberPhysical Infrastructure for Sustainable Data Centers (ReCIPeS-DC), Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.
• 2019 Wolf Award — Excellence NC State University Awards for Excellence, North Carolina State University; plus Student Involvement Award, 2019.
• 2018 Full Scholarship Award Al-Ghanim Industries, Kuwait.
• 2017 Research Grant Award College of Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Teaching Assistantship Award 2014–2017; UWM Chancellor's Award 2014.
• 2012 Medal of Honor Awarded by H.M. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for outstanding contributions to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
• 2009 Outstanding Student Award Kuwait Cultural Office in Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain; Distinguished Student Award, Honor Society, Washington, DC.

• Summer 2026

  Instructor, "AI Tools for Educators"

  NSF Engineering Research Center CURB · Texas A&M Energy Institute

  • Designed and delivered a 17-hour, 12-session professional-development course for visiting K–12 and higher-education teachers across all subject areas.
  • Embedded responsible-use practices throughout: student-data privacy, FERPA/COPPA, bias and hallucination, and classroom-level AI-use policies.
• Summer 2026

  Undergraduate Research Mentor, NSF CURB REU Program

  Texas A&M Energy Institute · College Station, TX

  • Directing a 10-week NLP and machine-learning project — Computational Strategic Communication Analytics — linking social-science adoption research to process, supply-chain, and digital-twin models.
• Summer 2026

  Instructor & Field Supervisor, Engineering and AI

  Texas A&M University × Agricultural University of Athens · Texas & Greece

  • 7-week Undergraduate Research Scholars Program; mentoring 5 researchers on WEF-nexus metrics and field evaluation of hyperscale data-center impacts on Greek agricultural systems.
• 2025 — Present

  Undergraduate Research Mentor, PFAS Project

  Texas A&M University, Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering

  • Supervising research on PFAS contamination in agricultural soils — orchard sampling, hyperspectral imaging methodology, and biochar production for remediation.
• 2024 — 2025

  Instructor & Invited Course Speaker

  Texas A&M Energy Institute — "AI in Agriculture" summer course (with AUA, 2025); "Water-Food-Energy Nexus Tool," graduate program

• 2013 — 2018

  Teaching Assistant

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee · Biology and Health Sciences

• AI & Machine Learning Causal inference · graph neural networks · deep learning · neural-network design · multi-objective optimization (NSGA-III) · physics-informed ML · surrogate modeling · AI-powered decision-support systems.
• Programming & Software Python (primary) · neural-network frameworks · Blender 3D · Adobe Creative Suite · bioinformatics tools (IPA, DAVID) · 3D modeling · scientific graphing & biostatistics.
• Remote Sensing & Geospatial Satellite-based contamination detection · hyperspectral imaging · integration of remote sensing with environmental and agricultural models.
• Environmental & Biological Sciences Microbiology · molecular biology · bioremediation · advanced oxidation processes (AOP / Photo-Fenton) · environmental sampling · DNA/RNA analysis · contaminant extraction and analysis.
• Health Science Environmental contamination and disease pathogenesis — cancer and autoimmune disorders · immunological methods · breast cancer research.
• Domain Expertise WEFH Nexus systems · petroleum-sector environmental challenges · soil-health and pedostructure science · data-center sustainability.
• Research & Project Management Leading cross-functional, multi-institutional teams · budgeting and grant management · strategic partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations · international conference organization.