Safiya is an Associate Professor and a Conservation Architect. She completed her Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, under Kerala University in 2009 and holds a Master’s Degree in Architectural Conservation from the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi.

Since 2009, Safiya has been active in academia, taking on various roles that have enriched her understanding of architectural pedagogy. Her research and academic interests include the history of architecture, vernacular architecture, cultural landscapes, traditional knowledge systems, and heritage conservation.

Currently, Safiya is a PhD scholar in Architecture at IIT Roorkee, focusing on Cultural Landscapes. Her current research is centred on island cultural landscapes, with a special focus on the Lakshadweep islands, her place of origin. She aims to identify and map coastal and island landscapes in both local and global contexts, establishing primary determining factors in the formation of island cultural landscapes.