Dr. Sasha Tyukavina and Dr. Amy Pickens Named Leading Women in ML4EO by Radiant Earth Foundation

GEOG researchers Dr. Sasha Tyukavina and Dr. Amy Pickens have been named Leading Women in machine learning for Earth observation (ML4EO) by the Radiant Earth Foundation. The annual award celebrates 14 women at the forefront of ML4EO and sheds light on gender bias in the field.

"I am honored to receive this award and grateful that there are efforts like this to recognize women working in remote sensing and machine learning, which are still heavily male-dominated fields," says Tyukavina, an assistant research professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences. As a member of UMD GLAD Lab, Tyukavina researches drivers of global forest loss using machine learning and sample-based methods. Their work is highly cited and contributes to the Committee on Earth Observation Satellite's (CEOS) best practice protocols on validation and area estimation. "Perhaps, in the future non-binary folks working in the field could be recognized via Radiant Earth Foundation or a similar award as well," says Tyukavina.

Dr. Amy Pickens, a post-doctoral associate with the Department and also a member of GLAD, researches land cover and land-use change with a focus on surface water dynamics and near-real-time forest disturbance monitoring. Her mapping of global surface water dynamics helps nations support Sustainable Development Goals and her forest loss alert system for the Amazon basin assists local stakeholders in efforts to reduce deforestation. "Thank you to Radiant Earth and all those who sent in nominations. I am very grateful to be part of this community of researchers," says Pickens.

The finalists were selected from a pool of 24 nominees recommended by leaders in the ML4EO community. Nominees were evaluated on a number of criteria including research contributions, leadership roles, and proven record of success at national, regional, and international scales. Among last year's winners were associate research professor Dr. Catherine Nakalembe and assistant research professor Dr. Hannah Kerner.

Learn more here.

Published on Tue, 03/08/2022 - 14:20