Effective March 1st, 2022, Dr. Jaafar was appointed as the new chairperson of the Agriculture Department for a 3-year term extending until March 2025.
Dr. Jaafar joined AUB in 2012 with over 10 years of international expertise in irrigation engineering and water management. He holds a Ph.D. in Irrigation Engineering from Utah State University (2003), an MS in Irrigation (1999), a BS in Agriculture (1997), and a BS in Biology (1995) all from the American University of Beirut. He specializes in remote sensing applications in irrigation and food security and his research work appears in journals like Remote Sensing of the Environment, Journal of Hydrology, Agricultural Water Management, Food Policy, Nature's Scientific Data, Nature Sustainability, among many others.
Dr. Jaafar is currently leading several international research projects in collaboration with many organizations such as NASA, USDA, IHE-Delft, and Google. At AUB, he has an extensive record of service (he served as the Chair of the Research Committee, member of the University Graduate Board, University Research Board, Senate Steering Committee, University Senate, and many others). He is currently a member of the Surface Biology & Geology Applications Working Group led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory – NASA at the California Institute of Technology, and a committee member of the Water and Development Partnership Program at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
