Saira is a PhD candidate and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in geological sciences at the School of Earth and Space Exploration working primarily with Dr. Clarke and Dr. Christensen. She earned her B.S. degree in geosciences from Georgia State University where she also received her Geographic Information Systems (GIS) certificate. Shortly after graduating, she interned at both NASA Ames Research Center and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where she researched topics on the geomorphology of Martian fluvial landscapes and the volcanic history of the Tharsis region, Mars. To date, Saira has participated in field investigations of volcanic landscapes in Iceland, the Canary Islands, Yellowstone, Idaho, Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico.