Fadji Maina

{{Infobox scientist | name = Fadji Z. Maina | image = Fadji Maina, 2019 (cropped).jpg | caption=Fadji Maina, in 2019 | workplaces = NASA GSFC <br> Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory <br> CEA <br> CNRS | alma_mater = University of Strasbourg | birth_place = Zinder, Niger | known_for = Water resources }}

'''Fadji Zaouna Maina''' is a Nigerien Earth scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.aib.media/2020/09/03/niger-issouffou-se-rejoui-de-ladmission-de-fadji-maina-a-la-nasa/ |title=Niger : Issouffou se réjoui de l'admission de Fadji Maina à la Nasa – Agence d'Information du Burkina |access-date=2020-09-04 |archive-date=2021-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818155733/https://www.aib.media/2020/09/03/niger-issouffou-se-rejoui-de-ladmission-de-fadji-maina-a-la-nasa/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/03/08/women-atmospheric-science On International Women’s Day, these atmospheric scientists inspire us – Washington Post March, 8th 2021]</ref> She was previously working in the field of hydrogeology at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where she used computational model using supercomputers to study the effects of climate change on water sustainability<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR6yaPnwwSo|title=Berkeley Lab 2019 SLAM: Fadji Maina - Sustainable Water for an Uncertain Future |via=Youtube}}</ref> and predict future needs. Her research has demonstrated that wildfire in California counterintuitively increase the water availability in the watersheds,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2019/09/04/how-california-wildfires-can-impact-water-availability|title=How California Wildfires Can Impact Water Availability|website=Berkeley Lab News Center|date=4 September 2019 }}</ref> as the barren lands impact the snowpack dynamics. She also studies the potential effects of drought in African Sahel region,<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03445-z|title=Avert catastrophe now in Africa's Sahel|journal=Nature|date=13 November 2019|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-03445-z |last1=Graves |first1=Alisha |last2=Rosa |first2=Lorenzo |last3=Nouhou |first3=Abdoul Moumouni |last4=Maina |first4=Fadji |last5=Adoum |first5=Djimé |volume=575 |issue=7782 |pages=282–286 |pmid=31723283 |bibcode=2019Natur.575..282G |s2cid=207986732 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> advocating for a holistic response including girl education and family planning, increase in agricultural production and local security.

== Education == Maina grew up in Zinder, Niger,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nigerinter.com/2016/10/fadji-maina-un-modele-dune-scolarisation-reussie-de-la-jeune-fille/|title=Fadji Maina, Un modele d'une scolarisation reussie be da jeune fille!|website=Niger Inter|date=October 28, 2016|language=fr}}</ref> where she studied all through high school. She then completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Fez in Morocco, before attending University of Strasbourg for her master's degree in engineering and environmental sciences in 2013, before pursuing a PhD in hydrology in 2016 in a collaboration between University of Strasbourg and CEA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eesa.lbl.gov/profiles/fadji-zaouna-maina/|title=Fadji Zaouna Maina|website=Berkeley Lab EESA profiles|access-date=2020-06-11|archive-date=2021-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818155731/https://eesa.lbl.gov/profiles/fadji-zaouna-maina/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She went on to continue her research at the Laboratory of Hydrology and Geochemistry of Strasbourg (CNRS) before going to Politecnico di Milano in Italy from 2017 to 2018. She joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow in 2018, until September 2020 when she joined Goddard Space Flight Center as an Earth scientist, the first Nigerien woman to work for NASA.<ref>[https://africanshapers.com/dr-fadji-zaouna-maina-29-ans-premiere-scientifique-nigerienne-a-integrer-la-nasa/ Dr. Fadji Zaouna Maina, 29 ans, première scientifique Nigerienne à integrer la Nasa – African Shapers]</ref>

== Awards and honors == * 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/fadji-zaouna-maina/#4f900e412c53|title=30 Under 30 in Science - Fadji Zaouna Maina|website=Forbes}}</ref> * 2019 MIT's Rising Star in Civil and Environmental Engineering<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cee.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/CEE-RisingStarsFinalProgram2019.pdf|title=2019 Rising Stars Workshop October 24-25, 2019|website=MIT|access-date=2020-06-11|archive-date=2020-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714222205/https://cee.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/CEE-RisingStarsFinalProgram2019.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> * 2017 Kepler Award (best thesis in science & tech at the University of Strasbourg in France)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fadji Maina curriculum vitae|url=https://eesa.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Maina-Fadji-CV-June-2020.pdf|access-date=2021-03-01|archive-date=2022-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229123318/https://eesa.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Maina-Fadji-CV-June-2020.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maina, Fadji}} Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:People from Zinder Region Category:University of Strasbourg alumni Category:Hydrogeologists Category:Women hydrologists Category:Women earth scientists Category:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory people Category:Nigerien scientists Category:21st-century Nigerien women Category:21st-century Nigerien people Category:21st-century women scientists Category:Nigerien emigrants to the United States