IN FOCUS: Snapshot of European GRSS Global Activities
By Joanne Van Voorhis
GRSS has established a formal global network to support remote sensing communities around the world through a range of initiatives and programs. Regional liaisons from GRSS Global Activities support efforts in Africa, Asia Pacific, China, Europe, India, Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, and North America. Over the next year, GRSS News will be highlighting outreach and accomplishments in each region, with this initial feature taking a look at the many GRSS efforts that specifically target the needs and challenges of Europe.
Leading the European Effort with Enthusiasm
Spearheading the European support network is Silvia Liberata Ullo, researcher and teacher at the University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy, and European Liaison for GRSS Global Activities. “I’m so pleased to be serving GRSS across Europe,” she explains. “This is my second year in the role and I am inspired to spread the word about GRSS. We have such an opportunity to embrace technology and work together to support the planet by working collectively. When we connect and collaborate with our peers, we make a big difference in supporting the challenges of the planet,” she adds.
And Silvia and those she works with have been very busy in the European region trying to make a difference. They have identified many opportunities to engage with members and potential members to encourage networking across Europe, and are working to expand the number of GRSS chapters in Europe. “While it can be challenging to launch a new chapter, we believe that having active chapters throughout Europe can magnify the impact of GRSS in the region. Through the volunteer efforts of many people, we have recently supported the creation of three successful new chapters: Poland and Sweden in 2024, and Austria in 2025. There are more potential chapters in the works, and we know that the more members and chapters that are involved, the more effective we will be collectively in reaching GRSS goals,” Silvia says.
Strong Teamwork Among European Chapters
But Silvia explains that it isn’t just the number of chapters or members that matters, but rather how they work together collectively that really has an impact. For example, she and Francesco Mauro (GRSS Coordinator of Region 8) have launched what they call “meet-ups” where representatives from each chapter get together and share ideas, challenges, and inspire each other. The first was in 2024 at EuroGEO in Poland. “Through strong communication, we can learn from each other, improve good ideas as a team, and share what has worked well,” she says. The group from Europe also met last week at MIGARS In Romania for another “meet-up” and are already planning other ways to work together in 2025 and beyond. “We know that the best ideas come from collaborating,” adds Silvia Ullo. “We have great volunteers throughout Europe, and I feel so fortunate to work as part of this team to find new ways to support members and spread the word about everything GRSS has to offer!”
New PhD Honors in Europe
One of the outcomes from the first European “meet up” was the development of a new PhD Award. While many chapters annually identify top PhD students, Silvia Ullo with all the Europe Chapters and Francesco Mauro (GRSS Region 8 Coordinator) are currently piloting the new “IEEE GRSS Europe Best PhD Award.” The new award prompted a few European chapters to initiate their own local PhD award program, which expanded the list of potential European PhD awardees. “The selection process was a learning experience for our group,” Ullo explains. “Because this is a new award, our working group not only had to develop the application and review process, but also create specific guidelines so that, if successful, the Best PhD Award could be seamlessly expanded to other parts of the world. It was challenging, but we are so amazed with the result and it was a pleasure to honor the winners at MIGARS 2025 earlier this month,” she adds. There were two winners this year, Martina Pastorino and Khatereh Meshkini.
Expanding the GRSS Presence at Key European Events
The European GRSS group has also been busy identifying events in Europe at which a presentation, session, or booth might support regional goals. For example, GRSS hosted an informational booth and presented a session at the Living Planet Symposium 2025 in Vienna, Austria in June. The event served as an opportunity to encourage collaboration on key efforts related to global sensing. In addition to hosting an informational booth to share information about membership and activities, IEEE GRSS highlighted several initiatives at the Symposium including an agora session whose proposal was jointly submitted by Silvia Ullo, Paolo Gamba (a previous GRSS President 2019-2020) and Nicolas Longépé of ESA. The agora presented the efforts by the Quantum Computing for Earth Observation Working Group, created with ESA’s Phi Lab to advance the use of quantum methods for EO data; the CONAE/ESA/GRSS Spring School on SAR polarimetry and Interferometry for land applications; the “Earth at Risk” image contest from the REACT Technical Committee, designed to engage youth and showcase EO’s role in illustrating global challenges; and the Student Grand Challenges, which provide students and early-career researchers with hands-on opportunities to tackle real-world UAV and CubeSat projects, spanning hardware, software, design, and deployment.
“We can more effectively address global remote sensing information challenges by partnering with others,” explains Silvia. “We participate in events such as the Living Planet Symposium, IJCNN (International Joint Conference on Neural Networks), the IADF (Image Analysis and Data Fusion) School on Computer Vision for Earth Observation, and others, to reach out and share our goals and resources with others. We strive to be a trusted source of educational services and resources for geoscience and remote sensing, to help support career and professional development, and overall to inspire technical communities to work together to help advance remote sensing, inform public policy and expand our knowledge of the Earth,” she adds.
IGARSS and MIGARS and More…
Silvia Ullo attended IGARSS 2025 in Australia along with several PhD students in her ongoing efforts to represent European members and chapters at a range of events. “Of course IGARSS is a great opportunity for us to share what is being done in Europe and find out what other regions are doing that works,” Silvia says. “I am always inspired to hear about the ideas and successes of other chapters and regions. One of the main pleasures of volunteering with GRSS is seeing how well we all work as a team. We have the same goals, come from all corners of the globe, and collaborate effectively without worrying about borders and politics….we all are equal partners in a collective effort, which is as it should be,” she adds.
Most recently, Silvia and Francesco Mauro contributed to the success of MIGARS 2025 (International Conference on Machine Intelligence for GeoAnalytics and Remote Sensing) which was co-sponsored by GRSS in Bucharest, Romania.The conference was packed with technical presentations from experts throughout Europe and beyond. Topics included advances in multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, microwave sensing, LiDAR, and UAV-based data acquisition, as well as breakthroughs in calibration techniques, mission design, and sensor optimization. There were also many opportunities to encourage the sharing of ideas and networking. For example, Silvia Ullo led an in-depth session where each of the European Chapters presented information about recent scientific research and activities, including the newest chapters in Austria, Sweden, and Poland. “Conferences, and events, whether in-person or online, really connect us as a GRSS family….and it is through these formal and informal connections that we plant idea seeds that can grow into programs and technological applications that can make a difference to our world,” she says.
