Zahra commenced her research journey in 2012 by starting her PhD study at the University of Newcastle in an exciting research area known as Satellite Geodesy, for which she had received International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (IPRS). In 2015, while studying her PhD, she joined University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) to pursue her career as an academic. Despite all the difficulties, she successfully finished her PhD and her degree was awarded by the University of Newcastle in June 2017– she is, therefore, an Early Career Researcher (ECR).

Zahra received two Postgraduate Research Awards from Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute and Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Newcastle. During her academic career, she has also developed a passion for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and obtained her remote pilot licence (RePL). Her research interests and expertise include UAV-based photogrammetry and LiDAR, spatial data management and visualisation, Remote Sensing, and climate modelling. Zahra is an active member of Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI), Australia, and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). She has also demonstrated research leadership by supervising HDR students: five PhD students (two completed) and two master’s students (one completed).