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Fatoumata Kébé

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Fatoumata Kébé
Born
Alma materPierre and Marie Curie University
Known forSpace debris

Fatoumata Kébé (born 1986) is a French astrophysicist and educator. She specialises in space debris. She was named as one of Vanity Fair's Most Influential French People in the world in 2018.

Early life and education

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Kébé was born in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis and grew up in Noisy-le-Sec. She has been interested in space since she was a child.[1] At the age of eight she discovered her father's encyclopaedia in astronomy.[2] Her favourite planet is Saturn.[3] She studied fluid mechanics for her Master's studies at the Pierre and Marie Curie University.[4] She worked multiple jobs alongside her studies.[5] Kébé worked on space debris during her PhD, specialising in modelling fragmentation events to monitor the movement of debris.[1] She worked at the Pierre and Marie Curie University Paris Observatory in the Institute for Celestial Mechanics and Computation of Ephemerides.[6] She trained for a year at the University of Tokyo in space engineering, where she worked on the construction of small satellites.[7] Here she launched Connected Eco, a project that works with women in Mali to protect the environment from over farming.[7][8] She designed solar powered sensors that monitor the drought level of soil and send information by SMS to farmers.[7][9] The project won an International Telecommunication Union Young Innovators Challenge.[7] She was awarded a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations fellowship.[7] She earned a doctorate in 2016; her dissertation was titled Etude de l'influence des incréments de vitesse impulsionnels sur les trajectoires de débris spatiaux.[10][11] She was an intern at NASA, Centre national de la recherche scientifique and International Space University.[12]

Career

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Kébé at 21st Century Fox during the 2017 Hidden No More International Visitor Leadership Program.

Kébé was featured in the Space Girls Space Women exhibition in 2015.[13] The exhibition was held at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris.[14] She has delivered two TED Talks, Le ciel est un menteur and L'Astronomie, ma passion.[15][16] She was invited to the European Space Agency Women in Aerospace roundtable.[17] She was a keynote speaker at the Change Now summit in 2017.[18] She was selected by the United States Department of State for an International Visitor Leadership Program in October 2017.[19] In March 2018 she was featured in a video campaign by Glamour.[20] She was included in the Grazia feature Women scientists, figures in the shadows.[21] She was named as one Vanity Fair's Most Influential French People in the world in 2018.[22]

Ephemerides

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Alongside her research, Kébé campaigns to improve access to astronomy and physics.[4] She appeared on France Inter in 2017.[23] Kébé founded Ephemerides, a program that provides astronomy classes for high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds.[7][23] It teaches students that are 12 to 15 years old.[2] She works with four colleges, including Seine-Saint-Denis, Bobigny and Villetaneuse.[24] In 2018 Ephemerides launched in Bamako.[12] She funds the project with money from Fondation de France.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Space Girls Space Women - Fatoumata Kebe". spacewomen.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  2. ^ a b "Fatoumata Kebe, gardienne de l'espace et passeuse de savoir". Le Huffington Post (in French). 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  3. ^ "Fatoumata Kebe, de la cité aux étoiles". LExpress.fr (in French). 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  4. ^ a b "Fatoumata KEBE - Annuaire des Experts du Club XXI Siècle". Club XXI siècle (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  5. ^ "L'astronomie : la vocation de Fatoumata Kebe". Franceinfo (in French). 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  6. ^ "Fatoumata Kebe: cette scientifique veut éviter qu'un satellite s'écrase dans votre salon". ChEEk Magazine (in French). 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Fatoumata Kebe | UNAOC Fellowship". UNAOC Fellowship. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  8. ^ "Chronique Agriculture et Pêche - Fatoumata Kébé, inventeur d'un système d'arrosage innovant". RFI (in French). 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  9. ^ "Meet the Black female scientist breaking barriers in France and protecting our sky | AFROPUNK". AFROPUNK. 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  10. ^ "IMCCE - Research - Teams - PEGASE". imcce.fr. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  11. ^ Fatoumata, Kebe (2016-12-06). Etude de l'influence des incréments de vitesse impulsionnels sur les trajectoires de débris spatiaux (These de doctorat). École doctorale Astronomie et Astrophysique d'Île-de-France.
  12. ^ a b c paulette-magazine.com. "FATOUMATA KEBE : VISER LA LUNE" (in French). Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  13. ^ "Space Girls Space Women". spacewomen.org. Archived from the original on 2021-06-19. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  14. ^ "WHO ARE YOU...? Fatoumata Kebe, the future astronomer who wants to clean up space". Clique.tv. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  15. ^ TEDx Talks (2015-06-12), Le ciel est un menteur | Fatoumata Kebe | TEDxChampsElyseesWomen, retrieved 2018-11-24
  16. ^ TEDx Talks (2016-11-29), L'Astronomie, ma passion | Fatoumata Kébé | TEDxAbidjan, retrieved 2018-11-24
  17. ^ esa. "Fatoumata Kebe at Women in Aerospace Europe Round Table". European Space Agency. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  18. ^ "Fatoumata KEBE – ChangeNOW – International summit for change". changenow-summit.com. 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  19. ^ "Hidden No More: Empowering International Women Leaders in STEM | Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs". eca.state.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  20. ^ Glamour Paris (2018-03-29), Fatoumata Kebe : la femme de ménage de l'espace | GLAMOUR, retrieved 2018-11-24
  21. ^ Grazia.fr (2018-06-17). "Fatoumata Kebe, 32 ans, docteure en astronomie - Femmes scientifiques, des figures dans l'ombre". Grazia.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  22. ^ Fair, Vanity. "Les 50 Français les plus influents du monde en 2018". Vanity Fair (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  23. ^ a b "Fatoumata Kebe, docteure en astronomie". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  24. ^ "Noisy-le-Sec : une docteure qui a la tête dans les étoiles". leparisien.fr (in French). 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2018-11-24.