Zaira completed her second year law at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, receiving the Law Foundation of British Columbia Entrance Scholarship, which is offered for academic excellence and community service to students expected to make a significant contribution to the legal profession. During her time in law school, Zaira interned with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and she worked as a research assistant for Professors Benjamin Goold, Efrat Arbel, and Dean Catherine Dauvergne on a large-scale project examining the legal regulation and governance of the Canada-US border. Prior to attending law school, Zaira worked with science-entrepreneurs at UBC at the University Industry Liaison Office. Most recently, she managed an industrial training program at UBC called ECOSCOPE, which helps science students commercialize their discoveries.
Zaira has a Master of Arts from Simon Fraser University in International Studies, where she received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her academic achievements, and a Soroptimist Foundation Scholarship for her work with former child soldiers and women survivors of violence in northern Uganda. During her final year of law school, Zaira will participate in the Judicial Externship Program, where she will have the opportunity to spend time in the Office of the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of BC. Following her expected graduation in May 2019, Zaira will be clerking at the Federal Court of Canada in Ottawa. Outside of school and work, Zaira spends much of her time hiking, doing yoga, and going on long walks with her dog Owen.