Shaghaygh Akhtari was awarded a UBC Faculty of Forestry Entrance Scholarship. She is joining the Industrial Engineering Research Group (IERG) to pursue her PhD as of September 2013. Shaghaygh graduated from IERG in November 2012 and her thesis (under the supervision of Dr. Taraneh Sowlati) received honorable mention in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC in 2012. Shaghaygh was previously awarded Mary and David Macaree Fellowship in 2013, Ralph M. and Elizabeth E. Cochran Scholarship in 2012, and Donald S. McPhee Fellowship in 2012.