Women In Data Science

Fatima Abu Salem grew up in Lebanon and has focused her data science research on addressing critical challenges in the region, including problems around the Syrian refugee crisis, the water quality in Lebanon and their irrigation requirements for farmers. Fatima explains that her life journey is really enshrined in the conflict of the region. She was born to a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father who had refugee status so she inherited this status. This meant there were many restrictions on what career she could pursue and her dream to become a doctor was out of reach. But she was good in math so majored in mathematics at the American University of Beirut and one of the only jobs available to her as a Palestinian was able to become a high school teacher. She taught for a few years but realized it wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life. At the time, she was working on her master’s thesis in Algorithmic Number Theory at the American University in Beirut and decided she wanted to pursue a PhD. She emaile