Mehreen Tahir

Mehreen is an NSF-funded Ph.D. student in the Environmental Life Sciences program at Arizona State University interested in understanding biopesticides' effects on locusts' immune function while integrating the effect of phase-dependent polyphenism in her studies to uncover biochemical pathways. She is an international student from Pakistan who completed her matriculation in Pakistan and was awarded the competitive Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (KL-YES) scholarship by the US Department of State to study in the US and was later awarded a full-ride scholarship to finish her high school in the US, becoming the first girl in her family and her village to ever travel abroad for education. She has completed her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biochemistry with major honors from Indiana University on a full-ride scholarship where she was also awarded an Undergraduate Research Program (URP) Grant and a Women's Philanthropy Leadership Conference (WPLC) grant. She has substantial research experience in electrochemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, and organic chemistry research labs. Mehreen is the representing graduate student of ASU on the leadership council of the NSF-funded BPRI project. She is also involved in advocating for international students in SOLS by addressing disparities faced by them to improve funding opportunities. Apart from that, she also has a strong commitment to increasing and improving women's access to education and women's representation in STEM in Pakistan. She is also driven to address the problem of food scarcity caused due to locust outbreaks in Pakistan and around the world!