Abi has a BSc in Watershed Science from Utah State University and MSc in Environmental Science from Indiana University. He received his PhD from the University of Virginia, working with Paolo O’Dorico. For his dissertation, he studied the effects of dune mobilization on dust emission and land degradation in Southern Kalahari.

He is now doing a postdoc at NC State University, investigating the socio-environmental impacts of sea level rise in coastal North Carolina.