Merieme Chadid

• Explorer and Astronomer
  Antarctica Research Station

Merieme Chadid is the first astronomer in the world to have been committed to install a large astronomical observatory in Antarctica. She is the first woman astronomer to reach one of the highest and coldest places on earth. She was astronomer during four years at ESO Paranal, in Chile, one of the most important observatories in the world and helped in the installation of the Very Large Telescope in the most arid area, the Atacama Desert. Soon after getting a tenure track as Astronomer & Professor in France, she performed scientific expeditions in the heart of the Antarctica continent in order to install a large observatory at Dome C. She is Coordinator of many space and ground astronomical programmes and Member of prestigious societies such as the International Astronomical Union. Before becoming an Engineer in CNRS in 1996, she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Nice and received her PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from University of Toulouse.