I completed my PhD in the summer 2023 at the Department of Political Science, McGill University, with Dr Leonardo Baccini. My fields of studies are International Relations and Comparative Politics. More specifically, I am interested in the IPE of development and trade with a particular focus on firms and GVCs. 

My PhD thesis, Trading up for development: the effect of deep trade liberalization on global value chains (GVCs), empirically examines the effect of trade liberalization on developing countries' (and their firms') capacity to participate in global value chains (GVCs). This work is supported by SSHRC Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Doctoral Scholarship (direct application) and McGill University. 

I also hold an MA in Globalization and International Development from the School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS), University of Ottawa, and an MA in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA), Carleton University, with specialization in global political economy (GPE). For my BA degree, I studied International Economics and specialized in International Economic Relations.

In 2023/2024, I am a Research Fellow at the Warwick Business School, working on supply chain analysis, firms, and FDI with Dr Nigel Driffield. 

In summer 2023, I worked as a consultant with the Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD, Geneva, on issues related to FDI, firms, and environment. 

I am in the academic job market for 2024/2025 year.

If you were wondering, my first name is pronounced exactly as written: [Zar--lasht], where [sh] is the usual sound as in [she].