Clemson University has added an irrigation expert to the faculty at the Edisto Research and Education Center at Blackville.

"Hamid J. Farahani will lead an interdisciplinary research and Extension ag engineering program in soil and water conservation, including irrigation systems and water management," said John Mueller, interim director at Edisto REC. "He has had extensive international experience in agricultural water-management issues and will be a strong addition to our faculty at Edisto," he added.

Farahani, a native of Tehran, Iran, comes to Clemson after three years with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and its Integrated Water and Land Management Program in Syria. He was responsible for several internationally funded projects related to sustainable rain-fed and irrigated production systems in West Asia and North Africa.

He holds three degrees, all in agricultural engineering: a 1985 bachelor's degree from Kansas State University, a master's with an emphasis on irrigation from the University of Arizona (1987), and a Ph.D. with an emphasis on irrigation and drainage from Colorado State University (1987).

He has previously held a post doctoral position with Colorado State University and worked as an agricultural engineer for the USDA-Agricultural Research Service from 1995 to 2005 in Fort Collins, Colo.

Farahani and his wife, Delilah, a Colorado native, are the parents of two daughters: Maryam, 7, and Donya, 3.