Conversation with Dr. Saibun Tjuatja
By Kevin Corbley
Dr. Saibun Tjuatja assumed his role as GRSS President on January 1, 2025, with clear goals of what he wants to accomplish for the Society in the coming year. These goals align directly with the long-standing vision of what GRSS was created to achieve.
“Our Society’s vision is to be recognized as a trusted contributor to advance the theory, concepts, and technologies in geoscience and remote sensing,” said Dr. Tjuatja. “And to this stated vision, I would add the words, ‘for the benefit of all humanity’.”
In terms of his professional background and personal GRSS journey, Dr. Tjuatja is well positioned to assist the Society in fulfilling this vision. He earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas, Arlington (UTA), and joined the faculty there in 1993, where he currently serves as Associate Professor.
Dr. Tjuatja’s remote sensing research focuses on modeling of scattering and emission from random media, which integrate electromagnetic theory, signal processing techniques, and inversion algorithms. In collaboration with GRSS colleagues his research is applied in humanitarian demining as well as microwave remote sensing of snow, glacier, and sea ice.
His GRSS journey began in 1992 as a member of the Technical Program Committee of IGARSS 1992 in Houston, Texas. Impressed with the collegiality, professionalism, and dedication of fellow members, he became a regular attendee and presenter at IGARSS Conferences also serving as a reviewer of articles for the GRSS conferences and publications. Dr. Tjuatja was instrumental in bringing IGARSS 2017 to Texas where he served as the General Co-Chair, most notably introducing the first Technology Industry and Education (TIE) Forum to the event.
“I love organizing conferences because I can immediately see the impact on attendees both technically and socially,” he said, adding that he was elected Executive Vice President of GRSS in 2019 and served on the GRSS emergency response team that successfully navigated the Society through the difficulties related to COVID, including pivoting IGARSS 2020 to a fully virtual conference with a record breaking number of participants
Three Goals for 2025
Dr. Tjuatja’s background and years of experience have prepared him well to assume the mantle of leadership at GRSS and set new goals that build on the successes of his predecessors. He outlined three objectives for 2025:
- Enhance the membership experience
- Drive innovation
- Broaden participation and engagement
Enhancing the member experience means serving them better to increase the value proposition of the time and money they invest in joining GRSS, explained Dr. Tjuatja. The first step is to improve the services that members use the most. The most popular, and possibly most valuable, for members is disseminating their research and learning from the research of others through Society publications.
“Right now, our publications are too expensive…some members can’t afford to publish, and some have limited access to journal articles,” he said. “We have to lower the cost to participate in our publication ecosystem.”
The next thing that can be improved is in-person networking because that is another important way for members to exchange information about their research and learn about the latest in trends and technology.
“This is another area where we have to lower the barrier to access, so more people can attend GRSS conferences,” said Dr. Tjuatja. “We are looking at reducing conference costs and also creating and holding more regional conferences to make it possible and easier for members to attend at least one GRSS-sponsored conference per year.”
One more way to enhance the member experience is to expand professional development programming at conferences. Plans are in the works to hold sessions, workshops, and webinars on topics that help people advance their careers, with topics such as proposal writing, resume creation, job interview practice, and leadership skills.
In terms of the second objective – Driving Innovation – Dr. Tjuatja has a unique approach. He wants to harness existing Society resources to push remote sensing data and technology outside of the geoscience and remote sensing R&D communities to the general public for their use. He cites the impacts of climate change as a prime example of an application area where local governments, organizations and individuals can utilize the data generated from member research to create solutions.
“By making the data more accessible [to others], we create more synergy in terms of new ideas and further development,” he said, explaining that this aligns with the mission of working for the benefit of all humanity.
As for the third objective of broadening participation and engagement globally, Dr. Tjuatja stresses the word “globally.” This has been an ongoing objective of GRSS since it was reformed in 1980, he explained.
For example, IGARSS, the GRSS flagship conference, has been held at locations around the world, currently on a three-year rotation cycle between Continental America, Europe/Africa, and Asia/Oceania, in order to better serve global memberships. However, many members and individuals, particularly students and young professionals, still can’t afford the registration fee and costs involved in traveling to IGARSS. GRSS addressed this issue by creating regional conferences in India (InGARSS) and Mediterranean & Middle East (M2GARSS).
“My goal for this year is to strengthen the regional meetings…and create new conferences in Latin America and Asia-Pacific region,” he said.
Broadening participation also means more than focusing on new geographic regions, Dr. Tjuatja explained. It also involves expanding conference programming to support members at all stages of their careers. Right now, GRSS has established programs assisting young professionals, but another group that needs support is those in mid-career who have to make a switch because their skill sets have become outdated.
Citing AI as a technology that is disrupting many careers, Dr. Tjuatja concluded, “Our programming should expand our professional development activities to support the idea of lifelong learning for our members.”
Making these goals a reality will involve increased participation from members at all levels and areas. Dr. Tjuatja encourages geoscience and remote sensing professionals to get involved at their local level through regional chapters, volunteering to assist with existing programs and feeling free to suggest new initiatives.
