Ghina Halabi
| Ghina Halabi | |
|---|---|
| Photo of Ghina halabiPhoto of Ghina halabi Dr Ghina Halabi | |
| Born | Ghina Mahmoud Halabi 1984 Barouk, Chouf District, Lebanon |
| 🎓 Alma mater | University of Cambridge Lebanese University |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | The first person to be awarded a doctorate in Astrophysics from a Lebanese institution. |
| 🏡 Home town | Cambridge |
| 🌐 Website | www.ast.cam.ac.uk/people/ghina.halabi |
Ghina Mahmoud Halabi FRAS is an astrophysicist and an early researcher in the Institute of Astronomy and a Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. She specialises in the evolution of single and binary stars.
Ghina was the first person to receive a PhD in Astrophysics from any Lebanese institution. She is a strong proponent of meritocracy in academia through gender equality and representation.
Education
Halabi was educated at the Lebanese Universyit in Physics. She obtained her MSc in Physics, followed by her PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the American University of Beirut, working with Professor Mounib El Eid. She was the first person to be awarded a doctorate in Astrophysics from a Lebanese institution.[1]
Research and career
Halabi joined the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher. Her research is devoted to the structure and evolution of stars, their interaction with nearby companions and nucleosynthesis in their interiors. This is by means of stellar evolution codes that enable modelling the structure and element formation. One such code is the Cambridge Stellar Evolution Code, STARS[2], originally written by Professor Peter Eggleton[3] (University of Cambridge) in the early 1970s. The code has since been modified and developed mostly by those in his academic lineage.
Her current research focus is on the interaction between stellar companions in a close binary system. In a system composed of an early asymptotic giant star and a smaller companion, rapid mass loss by the giant star, causes it to lose about 80% of its mass[4]. This mass loss engulfs the binary system in a common envelope and alters the fate of the stellar companions. Her original work included the study of the abundance of Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen of the surface of red giant stars [1]. She also collaborated on work that explained the formation of carbon-rich ejecta in classical novae outbursts. Research during her PhD investigated how our knowledge of nuclear reaction rates inside stars affects our understanding of stellar properties, evolution and ultimate fate.
Ghina is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Public engagement and outreach
Ghina Halabi is committed to promoting equality and diversity by ability, and women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine). She founded Scheherazade Speaks Science[5], a storytelling platform that makes science accessible and promotes global female scientists. Inspired by the One Thousand and One Nights, it “humanises science communication”.
Halabi is a member of the UN Space for Women project, which addresses gender equality (Sustainable Development Goal 5). During a High Level Panel at the UN headquarters in New York in 2017, she proposed her "Female Alumni Ambassador Programme" to build a global network of STEM ambassadors to encourage women and girls into science. The panel included Amina Mohammed (UN Deputy-Secretary General) and directors of UN Office of Outer Space Affairs and UN Women (UNOOSA). The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs has adopted the recommendation.
Ghina was an invited TEDx speaker in 2014 (TEDxAUB), presenting “Genius Formula”. She recounts her journey, marked with overcoming cultural, logistic and stereotypical hindrances and obstacles.
Ghina Halabi has drawn her inspiration from those who achieve in adverse conditions such as people from minority groups, low socio-economic backgrounds, those who have been bullied, and especially mothers juggling family responsibilities with exceptional careers.
External Links
- Space for Women High Level UN Panel: UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)[6] | Ghina Halabi’s proposal for UN sponsored international female alumni ambassador programme | delivered 6 October 2017, video time 2:02:50
- Genius Formula TEDxAUB[7] | Video of Ghina Halabi TEDxAUB | interview 22 January 2014
References
- ↑ "Cambridge astrophysicist calls on UN to help girls reach for the stars". University of Cambridge. 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ↑ "Cambridge STARS Homepage". www.ast.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ↑ "Evolutionary processes binary and multiple stars | Astrophysics". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ↑ Tout, Christopher A.; Izzard, Robert G.; Halabi, Ghina M. (2018-11-11). "Post-common envelope binary systems experiencing helium-shell-driven stable mass transfer". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 480 (4): 5176–5183. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2243. ISSN 0035-8711.
- ↑ "Team". Scheherazade Speaks Science. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ↑ "High Level Panel Space for Women". United Nations Web TV. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
- ↑ TEDx Talks, Genius Formula: Ghina Halabi at TEDxAUB, retrieved 2019-01-19
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