Dr. Rakiya Abdullahi Babamaaji is a Deputy Director at Strategic Space Applications Department, National Space Research and Development Agency, Nigeria. Her expertise is in Geology, Water Resources Management, Environmental Assessment, Remote Sensing and GIS.
Dr Babamaaji holds a doctorate in Geosciences and Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri Kansas City, USA, two Master’s in Environmental Resources Management from Lagos State University, Nigeria and in Space Management from the International Space University, France, and a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the Federal University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria, among many other certifications. She has worked as a graduate research assistant at Hydrolab, University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC), USA (2008 – 2012) and also worked as a part-time teaching assistant at the geology department, Missouri Community College Maplewood Campus, Kansas City, USA from January – June 2014.
Dr Babamaaji interned at the Canadian Space Agency in 2005 at the Commercialisation Office (GRIP). She is a member of the Team that drafted the Action Plan for the Restoration of Lake Chad and also one of the team members who conducted the Regional Risk and Vulnerability Assessment of Lake Chad Basin (Chad and Cameroun) sponsored by the Early Warning Directorate, ECOWAS.
A Member of the Project Implementation Team (PIT) for Geo-referenced Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development (GRID3) Nigeria. She is also the coordinator of the CropWatch Nigeria program and a National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) focal point for the World Bank Nigeria ACReSAL project. In February 2024, she was elected to be a member of the African Space Council.