Postdoc Profile: Fatima Hafsa
National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) celebrates the significant contributions postdocs make to research and discovery, both university and nationwide. This Postdoc Profile is a part of a series to commemorate NPAW which takes place from September 15 to 23, 2022.
Q: What is your name?
Fatima Hafsa
Q: Where are you from?
Karachi, Pakistan
Q: Where do you work at ASU?
College of Global Futures and W. P. Carey School of Business
Q: Where did you earn your doctorate?
PhD, Sustainability Sciences, Arizona State University
Q: What does your research focus on?
I study plastic manufacturing and waste supply chains using an interdisciplinary perspective. My work includes identifying points of innovation and transformation throughout the plastic lifecycle; identifying and analyzing price signals from plastic recycling markets; and recommending appropriate policy and public administration solutions.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I love that Arizona's landscape changes rapidly and it has mountains in 3 different directions. It reminds me of my home, Pakistan, which also has a varying landscape.
Q: What are your career goals?
I want to set up a research institute that studies the material systems for man-made materials from an interdisciplinary perspective.
More stories from the Graduate Insider
Finding your flow: Managing the graduate writing process
Graduate writing can feel like a marathon—long, demanding, and full of unexpected detours. But as Tristan Rebe, Program Manager for the Graduate Writing Center, reminded students in the Grad15: Managing the Writing Process webinar, writing is not about perfection—it’s about progress. “The best dissertation is a done dissertation,” Rebe said, quoting Robert Frost: the best way out is through.
Promoting resilience and well-being in Ghana — and across the globe
From practice to presentation: How to deliver a winning faculty job talk
Giving a job talk can feel like the most high-stakes presentation of your academic job search. It’s not just a research seminar—it’s your opportunity to demonstrate vision, communication skills, and fit within a department. In a recent Lunch and Learn, faculty members Associate Professor in School of International Letters and Cultures, Anita Huizar-Hernandez, Professor in School of Life Sciences Jeffrey Jensen, and Professor in Department of Physics Patricia Rankin shared concrete strategies to help graduate students and postdocs succeed as future faculty candidates.