Farinaz Motlagh is a PhD student at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University. Her research interests include hazard mitigation, equitable investments in flood mitigation measures, and coastal community resilience. She holds an MS degree in integrated water resources management with a focus on the Middle East and Northern Africa from Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany. After graduating from her master's studies, Motlagh worked as a research assistant as part of the Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation team at the Center for Development Research, contributing to sustainable agricultural growth and food and nutrition security in Africa and India as part of the One World–No Hunger initiative.