Zakieh joined PermafrostNet as a PhD student at the University of Calgary. She completed a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering (2009) at the Bu-ali Sina University in Iran. As a top-ranked student, she received a scholarship to continue her graduate studies at the Bu-ali Sina University. She completed her MSc (2012) in Geotechnical Engineering working on mechanical properties of fine-grained soils, and the influence of pore fluid characteristics on these properties. She has spent five years in the construction industry as a geotechnical Engineer and provided geotechnical investigation for several construction projects. Her interest in permafrost began after moving to Canada and starting her second master’s in Environmental Engineering in 2019. She started her PhD at the University of Calgary under the supervision of Professor Jocelyn Hayley. During her PhD studies, she will be working on developing a framework for evaluating and estimating the thaw-settlement behaviour of permafrost sediment.