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Rabat — Moroccan astrophysicist Meriem El Yajouri has officially joined NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, the research hub responsible for the science operations of the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and soon the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The announcement was made on her personal Instagram account, where she paired the news with a picture beside the NASA logo.
In her caption, El Yajouri recalled growing up without a telescope or mentor, but with a strong determination and a supportive family. “It is an immense pride to carry a part of Morocco into the heart of global space science,” she wrote, emphasizing pride in representing Morocco.
El Yajouri’s career has been defined by both excellence in research and dedication to science outreach. She earned her PhD in astrophysics in 2018 at the Paris Observatory, where she studied diffuse interstellar bands – mysterious absorption features in starlight believed to come from complex molecules in space.
For this work, she was awarded the International Astronomical Union’s PhD Prize, a recognition reserved for outstanding early-career research.
Her postdoctoral journey took her across some of the world’s leading institutions in astrophysics. She worked at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, home to some of the most advanced ground-based telescopes, before continuing her research at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale in France.
In both roles, she contributed to projects using data from Hubble and Webb, the two telescopes she now officially works on through STScI.
At NASA’s institute, her research focuses on interstellar dust in star-forming regions of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. This dust plays a crucial role in the birth of stars and planetary systems, carrying the building blocks of future worlds.
By analyzing multi-wavelength observations from Hubble, Webb, and soon the Roman telescope, her work aims to expand our understanding of how galaxies evolve and how the universe recycles its elements into new generations of stars and planets.
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While her scientific career has earned international recognition, El Yajouri has also dedicated herself to making science accessible. In Morocco, she founded outreach initiatives such as SpaceBus Morocco and Nomads for Science, which brought astronomy directly to children and rural communities.
She also co-led The Stars of the Little Prince, a program focused on inspiring young students, especially girls, to see themselves as part of the scientific future.
Beyond education, she served as Vice President of the Atlas Dark Sky Foundation, advocating for the protection of Morocco’s natural night skies from light pollution.
These efforts earned her several distinctions outside of research. She received the Camille Flammarion Prize for Scientific Communication and was named one of the 100 Most Outstanding Young Africans, acknowledgments of her dual role as both a scientist and a public advocate for science.
For Morocco, her appointment to STScI represents more than individual success. It is a rare moment of visibility in the global space community, showing that a child fascinated by the skies above Casablanca or the Atlas Mountains can one day contribute to the world’s most advanced observatories.
For young scientists, especially women from regions underrepresented in space research, her story offers proof that determination can overcome barriers of distance and access.
“But more than pride, it is a reminder: childhood dreams, even those born under skies far from the world’s great observatories, can one day find their place in the greatest scientific adventures,” she wrote in her announcement.
