Paula’s Reflection: IGARSS 2023 Experience as a Mentee

It is not a lie to say I was jumping around my room for a few minutes after an e-mail: I was the mentee who won the lottery to go to IGARSS23 with all expenses covered by IDEA’s Women Mentoring Women (WMW). With everything packed, I went all the way from the Netherlands to California, happy to promote more about WMW and to be able to present a poster about the human driver aspect of deforestation in the Amazon.

Being in IGARSS allowed me to share my research with a global audience and, more importantly, get feedback. The opportunity to be in the same session as Ph.D. candidates and researchers from around the world interested in applying remote sensing to land cover analysis enabled me to create connections and engage in many interdisciplinary discussions. This was an essential experience as I approach the end of my Master’s and have been, a bit anxiously, thinking about research projects and Ph.D. opportunities.

The cherry on top of the conference, competing closely with the cool session about the NewSpace SAR instruments, was having the privilege of connecting with women at different stages of their careers. I was fortunate to engage in conversations with women who had just started on their academic journeys, as well as those who had already scaled the peaks of their careers.

A memorable conversation was with a Project Coordinator from a space agency. She shared a story about when she became the Project Manager of quite a big project. As she set up her team, women of exceptional skill approached her office, eager to join. These women outlined their weaknesses, almost as though they were fortunate even to be considered. In contrast, equally accomplished men conveyed a belief that the Project Coordinator would be lucky to have them on her team.

This conversation showed me how important it is to have self-confidence in a domain that is dominated by men. At that moment, I understood how important it was that I had the opportunity to attend IGARSS, and seeing all the highly successful women in both academia and industry was important for me to be confident about my research. And I could only be there because of the WMW program.

Thanks to Women Mentoring Women, attending the conference was possible and it provided me with experiences that will undoubtedly shape my academic and professional path. The conference gave me a chance to present my research, connect with fellow researchers, engage with diverse fields, and interact with women from various career stages. I am deeply grateful to the WMW for their commitment to empowering women in academia, and I look forward to meeting future mentees who receive this opportunity and maybe inspire them, just as I was inspired.