GRSS YP Ambassador Program

Jan 15, 2019

Are you an IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing society (GRSS) member who graduated from your first professional degree within the past 15 years – an IEEE GRSS Young Professional (YP) ? Then we invite you to apply for our GRSS “YP Ambassador” program!

As a GRSS “YP Ambassador” (YPA) you will get the chance to participate in the administrative committee of the Society, organize events relevant to GRSS YPs, get involved in diverse GRSS committees, and help with different aspects of International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), the flagship GRSS conference.  The following is a non-exhaustive set of examples of potential YPA involvement:

  • A YPA could assist in the Meetings & Symposia portfolio and organize events for recruiting YP members at conferences relevant to the GRSS community.
  • A YPA could assist in the Information Resources portfolio and help chapters utilize social media to best engage potential YP members.
  • A YPA could assist in the Education portfolio and develop a list of topics that YPs in different regions feel are needed for their professional development and then leverage senior GRSS members to deliver targeted webinars on those topics.
  • A YPA could assist in broader IEEE YP activities and coordinate GRSS YPs in different regions to help with micro-volunteering.
  • A YPA could design an internship program that pairs graduate students with startups working on remote sensing projects over a summer.
  • A YPA could come up with his/her own novel idea on how to add value to IEEE GRSS. Only criteria are that the idea needs to fall within the mission of the Society and it needs to be approved by the GRSS YP Chair.

We are looking for motivated, creative, and enthusiastic volunteers who are team players and who are passionate about creating and fostering a strong sense of community among GRSS YPs.  Participation in the YPA program will significantly enhance your organizational skills, professional network, and scientific visibility.

The YPA program is a 2-year program, with the second year subject to review after the first year. There will be a total of 4 YPAs in the program and 2 new YPAs will be recruited every year with terms beginning on April 1st. As a YPA, you will get to attend 2 annual IGARSS conferences, financially covered by GRSS. YPAs with terms starting on April 1, 2019, will be able to attend IGARSS’19 in Yokohama, Japan (July 28-August 2, 2019).

Apart from mandatory IEEE and GRSS memberships, there are no minimum qualifications so all IEEE GRSS YPs are encouraged to apply. However, the selection process will be competitive. The major criteria evaluated will be demonstrated technical expertise in a field related to geoscience and remote sensing, history of professional service, demonstrated organizational competence, communication skills, and previous involvement in GRSS activities. The finalists will go through a short interview before the final decision is made.

If you are interested, complete the linked form (note that a Google account is needed):

goo.gl/forms/D4OXvLd4ztRTcHUm1

After completing the personal information portion, you will be asked to upload 2 documents:

  • Your curriculum vitae (1 page);
  • A letter of application showing your motivation and describing how and where you propose to be involved (maximum 2 pages), making sure that the proposed involvement is beneficial to the wider GRSS YP community. For that, the organization of the society should be inspected to select one or several committees. The GRSS website should be utilized as a resource to make sure that the application is relevant to the GRSS mission in general.

 

Keep in mind: IEEE and GRSS memberships are required by the time of the award. You may apply for IEEE and GRSS membership at the time of the submission to be considered. IEEE YPs are IEEE members who graduated from their first professional degree within the past 15 years.

Submission due:                    March 15, 2019.

For more details contact:      Subit Chakrabarti (subit@ieee.org)