IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2020 - 136

authentic self. Even if you face challenges
during your career path, especially during
a Ph.D., it is essential to have patience and
surround yourself with positive people
who encourage you and help you overcome your moments of doubt, because it
is natural to have moments of doubt about
your choices, like doing a Ph.D., but keep
in mind that it is worth it."
Dr. Benhalouche's talk echoed the audience's concerns over the involvement of
women in the world of geoscience and motivated them to exchange ideas and start a discussion about the empowerment of women. Many female researchers shared their
experiences, including Dr. Laila Nasraoui,
FIGURE 3. Young female mixer participants from Algeria, Morocco, and Iran: (from left):
an assistant professor at the National School
Khedidja Oukali, University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene, Algeria;
of Computer Sciences, Tunisia, who menAisha Moumni, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco; Neda Abbassi, Philipps-Universität Martioned that it can be a tough way to reach
burg and TH Köln, Germany; and Salma El Idrissi Essebtey, Ph.D. student, Office National
career goals and that in developing cound'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales and Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la Biosphère,
tries it is uncommon to see many successToulouse, France.
ful women engineers. But she is always
encouraging her students and motivating
them to keep fighting for their ambitions and was happy
that, during the conference, the number of female researchers participating illustrated the advancement of women in
science and engineering in Tunisia, as well as many other developing countries. It was also recognized in the discussion
that women are as effective as men, can manage multiple tasks
successfully, and have the drive to pursue and achieve their
goals. Male researchers attending the events spoke up as advocates, sharing their opinions that women are hardworking
and should have the same status as men.
The discussion highlighted that the gender stereotypes
may
be less an obstacle, from a woman's perspective, to
FIGURE 4. Dr. Benhalouche with mixer organizers Chayma
achieve
her dreams. Identifying the true passion and pursuChaabani (left) from the M2GARSS local organizing team and
ing
it
are
the keys to success, as long as societies uplift the
Fairouz Stambouli (right), GRSS YP ambassador and M2GARSS
cultural
and
social norms to improve the status of women
YP events organizer.
and make changes in opportunities and attitude. Also, expanding one's professional network and opening up to new
connections are definitely essential factors toward career
countries. However, they are active mainly in research, teachsuccess and are, in fact, one of the GRSS's missions.
ing, and supervising activities, in comparison to men who
In addition to the mixer, a Chapter microgrants iniare far more dominant in industry and management. She
tiative was launched this year by the IDEA Committee
stressed the importance of empowering women and overto support the attendance of female researchers and stucoming the gender gap by raising awareness of women's
dents at regional GRSS conferences (Figures 3-8). During
strengths and ambitions.
M2GARSS, grants were offered to local researchers from
She summed up her experience in this way: "My particiTunisia and the mixer's speaker from Algeria, as well as to a
pation in the YP mixer was my first experience as a speaker
Ph.D. student from Spain. Another microgrant was offered
in such an event. It was a remarkable experience in the conto a researcher from the European Space Agency, European
text of both a scientific and informal meeting, where we met
Space Operations Center (ESA-ESOC), Germany, to join the
eminences in the field of geoscience and remote sensing as
mixer as a guest speaker. Unfortunately, she was not able to
well as young researchers, all linked by the common reattend the conference due to the Covid-19 crisis.
search theme and by the Mediterranean culture and legacy.
Grant recipient Maria Luisa Buchaillot (Figure 9) from
If I could give a piece of advice to young female researchthe University of Barcelona shared her feedback: "The exers, it would be to always believe in yourself, be confident,
perience was great. I participated in the 3MT [Three Minute
tenacious, strong, brave, and patient, while keeping your
136

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE

JUNE 2020

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2020

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