RocketSTEM
Fadji Maina was made acutely aware of the luxury of tap water in her youth in Niger. Credit: USAID
Ever since she was 10 years old, Fadji Maina knew she wanted to find solutions to water-scarcity problems, especially those in Zinder, Niger, where she grew up.
Maina took a giant leap toward her goal earlier in September 2020 when she began work as a computational hydrologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She became the space agency’s first Nigerien scientist.
“I have a responsibility on my shoulders because I believe I need to show the face of my country,” Maina says. “It’s like changing the image of Nigeriens and changing the image of the women generally.”