Deputy Director, Strategic Space Applications Department, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA)
Dr Rakiya Abdullahi Babamaaji
Dr Rakiya Abdullahi Babamaaji
"Dr. Rakiya Abdullahi Babamaaji is a Deputy Director, Strategic Space Applications Department, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA). Her expertise is in Geosciences, Water Resources, Environmental Assessment, RS and GIS etc. She conducts researches amongst which are: Hydrological modelling and Land use Land cover (LULC) of Lake Chad Basin (LCB) supported by NASRDA/NSF/NASA, Hydrological modelling of Katsina-ala river basin: an emerging scenario from Lake Nyos threat supported by NASRDA/UMKC. Dr Rakiya was an intern from May – August 2005 with Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Commercialization Office (GRIP) and carried out research under Water Related Issues and Space application in Africa. She has also supervised and coordinated researches in the use earth observation technology in Agriculture, Eco-conservation, Disaster and Water resources. She is the Vice chair of ITU/WMO/UNEP Focal Group on Global Initiative on Resilience to Natural Hazards through AI Solution. A member of Project Implementation Team (PIT) for Geo-referenced Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development (GRID3) Nigeria. She is the coordinator, CropWatch Nigeria program. The NASRDA desk officer for World Bank Nigeria ACReSAL project. She is also one of two African Scientists invited into United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Global Risk Assessment Framework (UNDRR GRAF) Steering Group. Dr. Rakiya was elected into the Africa Space Council at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held from February 14th – 15th, 2024. Dr Rakiya is also a Member of the Advisory Board of the EO AFRICA R&D Facility. Dr. Rakiya holds a Doctorate degree in Geosciences and Civil Engineering from University of Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, USA, a Masters (MSc in Space Management from International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France and another Masters degree (MSc) in Environmental Resources Management from Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo, Nigeria and B.Tech in Geology, Federal University of Technology Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria. She has Certificate in Concept & Skill in Applied Earth Science Research from International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Netherlands. She is a visiting lecturer with Institute of Space Science Engineering (ISSE), African University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Abuja, Nigeria and a Resource person for UN African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education - English (ARCSSTEE). Dr. Rakiya is a fellow of Geospatial Society of Nigeria (GEOSON) and a member of the following professional organizations too: Council of Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), Nigeria Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS), Nigerian Association of Geodesy (NAG), Nigerian Association Of Hydrological Sciences (NAHS), America Geophysical Union (AGU), Africa Women in GIS (AWiGIS), Africa Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE), GMES & Africa Academic Network, Women in GMES & Africa etc. "
