During her Earth Sciences BSc at SQU, Zainab conducted a final year project for Petroleum Development Oman Company of petrographic analysis and correlation of the Haushi Limestone member (Early Permian), the upper part of the lower Gharif Formation, in North and Central Oman. The methods of investigation included description of the mineralogy, fossils and texture in samples from several petroleum exploration wells using different microscopy methods (LM, XRD, XRF, and SEM). The project yielded new data on the textural and compositional attributes of the Haushi limestone that helped to construct a model for depositional environment and diagenetic evolution of the member through the Early Permian.
Zainab's MSc project was on Upper Cretaceous Calcareous Nannofossils Biostratigraphy and Palaeoceanographic Significance of the Fiqa Formation, from North Oman. The investigation yielded rich and diverse calcareous nannoplankton assemblages that enabled more precise biostratigraphic subdivision of the Formation. It also discussed the changes of nannofossils assemblages throughout the formation and utilised these results for paleobathymetry analysis and palaeoenvironmental interpretation.