Leaving Lebanon at a young age to go to France to study agricultural engineering was not an easy task. Choosing to specialise in The Quality of the Environment and Resources Management was not easy either because in a country like Lebanon, few efforts are done for the environment.
People constantly said that I would not find a job in Lebanon when I get back and that I would better stay in Europe to have a descent carrier. Defying all, I specialised in Environmental Engineering. When I got my engineering degree, I still had a lot of questions on my mind so I prepared a Ph.D. on water and soil pollution resulting from inappropriate agricultural practices.
Leaving Lebanon at a young age to go to France to study agricultural engineering was not an easy task. Choosing to specialise in The Quality of the Environment and Resources Management was not easy either because in a country like Lebanon, few efforts are done for the environment.
People constantly said that I would not find a job in Lebanon when I get back and that I would better stay in Europe to have a descent carrier. Defying all, I specialised in Environmental Engineering. When I got my engineering degree, I still had a lot of questions on my mind so I prepared a Ph.D. on water and soil pollution resulting from inappropriate agricultural practices.
Convinced that for a person to genuinely feel good about himself, he has to feel good in his surrounding, I continue to fight for better agricultural practices that will minimize agricultural impacts on nature and help us produce better, healthier products.
My hard work, commitment and passion for what I do, were congratulated in 2011 with the Women in Science Price that LOreal-UNESCO-Académie des Sciences give every year in order to encourage women in scientific domains. This price helped introducing me to people via radios and televisions. It was then that I started touching more and more people and spreading my concerns to more people.
I am firmly convinced that the environmental problem should be treated at the source and that the development of Good Agricultural Practices will be beneficial to the Environment and in fine to all of us. However, worried about the lack of Youth awareness in Lebanon, I decided to come back to Lebanon after my Ph.D. to be assistant professor in an Agricultural Engineering Faculty (Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK)-Lebanon). I am now, in my every day job, treating the agricultural problem and building young engineers that will be environmentally aware leaders and that will help fight for my cause a few years from now.
In 2013, I was chosen to be one of 9 Mediterranean women honored for their contribution to the society, in a permanent exhibition at the MuCEM of Marseilles (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations). In this museum, a short film is permanently exposed and is intended to represent my involvement, my work, and my enthusiasm leading to the enrichment of the society.
I have a solid conviction that the quality of a countrys agricultural system is the mirror of the societys success. I have followed my own path and succeeded. Therefore, I encourage all of you who want to make a difference to join the magnificent journey of agricultural professionals!
