Jamali graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1974, with an Masters qualification in rural and regional resource planning. After graduation she returned to Iran and began work at the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Tehran. The Institute continued despite changes wrought by the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, by 1997 it was able to flourish. Earlier in the 1990s, Jamali was approached by her colleague at the University of Tehran, Mahlagha Mallah, to establish an organisation dedicated women and the environment in Iran. In 1993 they founded the Women’s Society Against Environmental Pollution (WSAEP). In 1999 and 2001 she took part in two research visits to the USA sponsored by Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide.