Selma Cherchali

Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES)Head of the Earth Observation Department

Selma Cherchali is the head of the Earth Observation Program at CNES. She is the head of the Earth Observation department within CNES Strategy Directorate. She is the Principal French Delegate at the ESA Program Board. She is the CEOS chair for 2022.

Selma has 30 years of experience in the field of Earth Observation. She has always been committed to fostering the development of European and international collaborations (CEOS, GEO, WMO, UNDP, UNEP, UNOOSA,..) in relation with all relevant players (scientists, operational users, other space agencies, industry). She is managing and supporting science and users communities in the preparation and exploitation of space missions through downstream preparatory programs.

Within her previous positions she was Earth Science Program manager at CNES and was Director of the Space Climate Observatory for which she has strongly contributed to build this international program dedicated to the adaptation of Climate Change at local scale involving more 30 international partners, Space Agencies and UN entities.

Previously, she was Land and Hydrology Program Manager within the Science, Applications and Innovation Directorate. In this role, she was in charge of leading, coordinating and supervising the EO National, European and International space missions with CNES participation. She supported and coordinated research activities in the field of Land and Hydrology and has been involved in the policy and technical development of Land Infrastructure.

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