Student Member Spotlight: My-Thu Tran

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Student Member Spotlight
My-Thu Tran

Written by: Kevin Corbley

Originally from the central coastal area of Vietnam, My-Thu Tran now lives in San Diego, California, where she is working on her PhD in the Geography Joint Doctoral Program of San Diego State University and University of California Santa Barbara. Before coming to the United States to study, My-Thu earned her undergraduate degree in K-12 Teaching and Pedagogy at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. During her free time in San Diego, she enjoys body boarding in the ocean and hiking and mountain biking on rugged trail systems of Southern California. My-Thu also spends time with her wiener dog, Franke. She joined GRSS in 2024 and expects to earn her PhD at the end of 2026.

My-Thu’s research integrates field data with optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery to characterize the flooding dynamics that drive arsenic contamination in Cambodia’s rainfed rice systems. Naturally occurring (geogenic) arsenic is present in solid mineral form in local soils, but the prolonged monsoonal flooding typical of Cambodian rice fields creates anaerobic conditions that mobilize arsenic into dissolved, bioavailable forms that rice plants readily absorb. By combining SAR’s capacity to detect flood extent, timing, and duration with optical imagery for mapping rice density and crop development, My-Thu aims to identify the inundation characteristics and cultivation patterns most likely to influence arsenic mobilization. Integrated with field measurements and household survey data, this remote‑sensing–driven approach helps reveal the social and environmental determinants of contamination and assess the potential exposure risks faced by local farming communities.

Why did you join GRSS?

GRSS has a lot of student opportunities, like a Summer School and other different schools. I have attended two different Summer Schools, one in Spain and one at CalTech. I have also been to different conferences. And I should mention that I received a micro grant [from GRSS] for my drone camp summer school last summer.

How will your GRSS experiences assist you as you move forward in your academic career, specifically your PhD program?

Besides getting training and getting to know about the technologies, I especially like to get involved in GRSS because it gives me the networking opportunities. And from that, I have gotten to know other students like me working on their PhD in remote sensing, but in different applications.

In addition to the Summer Schools that you mentioned, what are other GRSS activities do you hope to take advantage of, and participate in, in the future?

GRSS holds the IGARSS Conference every year, and I want to go there some days. Unfortunately, I have not applied for this year [in Washington, D.C.], but I hope to attend and present a paper – the results of my PhD research – next year in Iceland.

Whether you go into industry or stay in academia after earning your PhD, how will GRSS help you in that phase of your career?

After getting my PhD, I want to stay in academia and become a professor in a university. I like teaching and doing research, so I think GRSS really will help me to get to know more people and also get more job opportunities. In the future, I also want to teach my students to know more about different remote sensing networks.

As an instructor at the university level, do you have a special area you would like to focus on in your teaching? And do you want to return to Vietnam?

I am passionate about teaching remote sensing, and I have already had the opportunity to teach one course last semester. I hope to continue building my teaching career in the United States, where the fields of GIS and remote sensing are rapidly expanding. Compared to Vietnam, where these areas are still developing and receive limited attention, the U.S. offers a thriving environment with strong engagement from both academia and private industry. Many geography and environmental studies programs here are increasingly integrating remote sensing technologies to address environmental challenges, and I am excited about the possibility of contributing to that growth through teaching and research.

What upcoming GRSS events do you plan to attend?

I hope to attend IGARSS in 2027 to present a paper, as mentioned earlier. While not a GRSS event, I also serve as the San Diego State University Student Chapter lead for the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), and I plan to participate in several of ASPRS upcoming activities.

What words of encouragement would you offer to other students who were thinking about GRSS but haven’t joined yet?

Students just need to encourage themselves and don’t feel shy or don’t feel hesitant, just apply…and you will get the right result from GRSS. I especially recommend applying for the micro-grant to travel to the conferences or summer schools.

Contact: If you would like to know more about My-Thu and connect with her, please visit her LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/my-thu-tran/.

Do you know an IEEE GRSS Student Member who deserves to be recognized? We invite you to submit a nomination by sending a brief message to ir_pub@grss-ieee.org with the subject: “Student Member Spotlight.”