AgriLife Extension hires new East Texas IPM specialist

OVERTON, Texas – A new Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service integrated pest management specialist believes his research background, as well as his experience in community development, will allow him to serve his clientele better.

Erfan Vafaie’s first day at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton was Dec. 2.

Vafaie’s previous position was as a research technician at the Vineland Research and Innovation Center, Ontario, Canada, where he studied biological control of whiteflies and improving monitoring techniques for spotted-wing fruit flies.

“I worked directly with growers and collaborated with other researchers and government scientists to propose collaboration tools on a national scale,” Vafaie said. “Prior to Vineland, I worked in the LED (light emitting diode) industry as the specialist in greenhouse grow LEDs, and was an operations associate intern for a startup urban farming company in Toronto. Before that, I was an IPM consultant for Integrated Crop Research and Management in British Columbia.”

He received his bachelor’s degree in science with honors from the University of Western Ontario and his master’s in pest management from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, studying biological control of aphids.

Vafaie said he has a strong background in volunteer community development, which he believes will aid him as an AgriLife Extension specialist.

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