IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - December 2021 - 272

(see Figure 2). In 2019, Vanthof received the Hugh C. Morris
Travel Fellowship. Vanthof reflects that " As a researcher you
are always competing for awards, and during your Ph.D., you
get exposed to writing grants and must learn to take rejection
as a progress step and not as defeat. I applied for the fellowship
primarily as a learning experience as it consisted of me
developing my own research plan and budget, coordinated
field work travel, and allowed me to think outside the box. I
really struggled writing it because I felt like I wasn't equipped
or experienced enough to be awarded such a prestigious
award, but I pushed through my doubts and submitted it. I received
the award, and post-COVID will continue on my travel
journey across the world. " It's quite an accomplishment and a
journey yet to fully unfold. Her first IGARSS conference was
in Texas in 2017, and soon thereafter, Vanthof volunteered as
a GRSS Social Media Ambassador for the North America Section
before joining GRSS IDEA as the WMW program colead
with Flemming. Their combined social media prowess has
certainly showed during the launch of the GRSS-sponsored
Down to Earth podcast earlier this year. Go team!
Of her ILC experience, Vanthof was most inspired by
an amazing talk by Sandy Carter and continues to quote
her wisdom, " Everybody is a little behind somebody, so if
we just pull one along with us, we will change the culture. "
Vanthof expands, " She [Carter] pushed mentorship, and
not only for senior researchers and leaders, but for everyone,
which I [Vanthof] thought was so important. " This is
an especially salient thought considering Vanthof's current
role as colead for the GRSS WMW program, which supports
women through mentorship to help them succeed. In addition
to Carter's words, Vanthof was also inspired by a quote
and the Q&A interaction with Lynne Doherty, who first
said that " Your career is a jungle gym, " on which Doherty
later expanded with how she managed to navigate a family
while pushing her career boundaries. Doherty humbly
highlighted that it's not easy but added, in a sentence that
Vanthof said will stick with her forever, that " Your life is
chapters in a book, sometimes it's a chapter that's for work
and sometimes it's on family. Sometimes it's a good chapter
and sometimes it's a bad chapter, be okay with that in
the moment. " As a final thought, Vanthof adds, " In my
career thus far, I haven't had the opportunity to attend a
leadership conference or a conference that isn't technical.
While I knew that it would be different, I didn't quite expect
it to be as inspirational and motivating
as it was. "
Fru is presently one of IDEA's coFIGURE
1. Margot Flemming improving seasonal snow-monitoring approaches by incorporating
satellite observations. (Source: Flemming.)
leads for our Women in Africa core
initiative and a Ph.D. student at the
University of Buea, Cameroon, in applied
geology. Her specific interest is
in remote sensing related to geosciences,
especially on mineral explorat ion
and disaster management (see Figure
3). One highlight from her current
work is a team collaboration: " Assessing
the Knowledge of Geoscience
Education in Africa, " a forthcoming
paper that attempts to explain the stereotypes
and biases that exist in Earth
sciences, especially in Africa. " Doing
this project made me realize the gap
between women and men in the Earth
sciences, and I proposed how this can
be handled, " Fru adds. Fru also placed
third in the IGARSS 2020 Women in
Geoscience #InspireUs photo competition,
organized by the IDEA committee.
The contest inspired Fru to
join IDEA, and she has since launched
the first GRSS Chapter in Cameroon.
Very impressive work.
Since joining the GRSS, Fru states
FIGURE 2. Victoria " Vicky " Vanthof doing geodesy calibrations in the field. (Source: Vanthof.)
272
that being a member has " greatly helped
me to learn more from experts in the
field, meet wonderful mentors who
are always open to listen and direct
me on the right path to take, and most
IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2021

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - December 2021

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