Uncovering My Passion for Remote Sensing Through the NASA DEVELOP Internship
Growing up, my mother always taught me to love nature and be curious of the world around me. Because of her, my love of science began at a young age and has only grown.
When I was 14, I came across a scientific paper about Harmful Algal blooms and was fascinated by how something so small could cause such large scale damage. That research paper came out of a lab at UC Santa Cruz (UCSC), the university I started attending 4 years later.
My name is Zoë and throughout my four years at UCSC, I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of really fun and innovative research. I have spent a lot of time in labs; as an undergraduate research assistant in the Zehr Marine Microbial Ecology lab and the Ravelo Paleoceanography Lab. I also participated in a Marine Biology and Terrestrial Ecology field program through the University of Queensland in Australia. Most recently, I worked under professor Ian Garrick-Bethell to model lunar magnetism during lunar eclipses. None of that would have been possible without the phrases “why not?” and “yes!”
Turning Rejection into Opportunity
Putting yourself out there is scary. Imposter syndrome is very real, and something that I feel often. A motto that I live by is, “if you are scared of rejection, a rejection itself has the same outcome as if you never tried it at all.
Give yourself a chance to hear a yes!” Every failure or rejection is a learning lesson if you choose to view it that way.
Last year, my junior year at UCSC, I applied for an internship with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), got an interview, and didn't hear back. I felt really disheartened after that rejection but was thankful for the interview practice and the new ideas that I had for my next interview.
A few months later I heard about a summer internship called NASA DEVELOP. I assumed it would not amount to anything, but I gave it a shot anyway. Just a few weeks later I got an email with an interview request and ended up receiving an acceptance email!
Submitting the NASA DEVEOP application ended up being one of the best and most important decisions I have ever made. It was one of the most fruitful learning experiences I had ever had, and it permanently altered my life.
About NASA DEVELOP
NASA DEVELOP is a capacity building program that aims to make earth observations more accessible through a variety of feasibility studies. I spent the majority of the summer before my senior year at the NASA Ames Research Center working with a small team of young professionals to assess water quality and map eelgrass extent in Oregon’s Coos Estuary.
We collaborated with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (SSNERR) and the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians’ (CTCLUSI) Department of Natural Resources. We helped these organizations find methods to use satellite imagery and ArcGIS Pro for mapping turbidity, chlorophyll-a, and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation. We also helped them create methods for using machine learning to map where eelgrass is present.
I had never worked with remote sensing before, and the only maps that I had ever made were by hand in my field geology class. I had never used Google Earth Engine or ArcGIS Pro before, and I knew nothing about calculating spectral indices. Starting this project made me feel like I had been thrown into the deep end.
Another motto I live by is, “it’s not about what you don’t know, your ability and willingness to learn is everything.” By the end of the 10 week study, I knew how to obtain satellite imagery and manipulate different spectral reflectance to model various water quality parameters. Not only did I have a multitude of new skills under my belt but I also loved what I was doing!
Discovering My Passion for Data and Remote Sensing
During my internship through the NASA DEVELOP program , I discovered my love of data and the stories that it can tell. Our project told the story of declining eelgrass rates and the conditions that are likely causing it. I was able to take our maps that we created in ArcGIS Pro and apply to AGU’s Michael H. Freilich Student Visualization Competition. As a grand prize winner, I had the honor of presenting our study and the visualizations that we created at the NASA Hyperwall Demo Theater at the 2023 AGU Conference.
Through my internship with NASA I discovered my passion for data and what we can learn from remote sensing, make some amazing connections, and become a more competitive candidate for my future endeavors. None of this could have happened if I had not put myself out there and always said “yes” to every opportunity that I found.
This June, I will be graduating from UC Santa Cruz (go slugs!) with a B.S in Geophysics. If you had asked me what I would be doing even just one year ago, I never thought that I would say remote sensing. I did not even know what remote sensing was a year ago.
Now, I am working towards getting my commercial drone pilot’s license so that I can incorporate drone imagery into my future work. Upon my graduation, I am hoping to continue my journey with remote sensing with the USGS, but none of this would have been possible without everything that I learned at NASA and the people there who encouraged me and guided me along this path.
To conclude, always say “yes” because you never know where it will take you!
