What happens when you mix one passionate ecologist, a pinch of AI, a satellite’s eye view of Earth, and the eternal charm of Italy? You get Gillian Rowan’s whirlwind first month at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ϕ-Lab in Frascati. In her diary, Gillian takes us behind the scenes of her life living and working just outside Rome. One where coding frustrations meet cappuccinos, scientific breakthroughs mingle with sightseeing, and birthday pizza dreams come true. Welcome to Month One.
Month 1: Welcome to Frascati and the ϕ-Lab
This first month at ESA’s ESRIN campus in Frascati has been nothing short of amazing. From settling into my room with a view (I can see right to Rome on a clear day!) to diving headfirst into cutting-edge research, it’s been quite a whirlwind. I’ve explored historic landmarks, immersed myself in Italian culture, and started an exciting project using AI to reconstruct Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite imagery. Here’s a peek into how the first few weeks unfolded.
Week 1: Getting started
Arriving in Frascati felt like stepping into a postcard. After unpacking, I tackled practical things like getting a SIM card and figuring out the town. I spent the evenings reviewing the theory behind radar imaging and picking away at my doctoral research project before putting it on the back burner for a few months. On Monday morning, Roberto greeted me at security. And, we kicked of my time at ESA in classic Italian fashion: by going for an espresso. The campus itself is fascinating – it’s technically extraterritorial like an embassy, so it’s its own little international bubble. The highlight of my week was on Friday. I met with the three researchers that would be mentoring me during my stay at ϕ-lab, Nicolas, Roberto, and Lorenzo, for a project kick off meeting. With a background in ecology and optical remote sensing, switching gears to an imaging radar/AI project will definitely be a challenge. But, I can’t wait to tackle it!
Week 2: Exploring Rome and diving deeper
Rome is magic. Wandering its streets without a plan, indulging in the amazing food, and soaking in history was a perfect balance to the work. I took advantage of the Easter long weekend to go adventuring in Rome with some visiting family and to get some rest after they left. Easter Monday morning brought big news: the Pope passed away, turning the world’s focus to Rome. I walked into town and watched mourners gathering at the basilica; it seemed like the whole town was out in the square together. Back at my desk for the rest of the week. Knowing more precisely what project I’d be working on, ALL I did was read! There’s so much to wrap my head around before I even know what questions to ask. Let alone how to answer them! And, as for getting a handle on the AI jargon… I’m working on it.
Week 3: Hitting a milestone
With my parents visiting, we toured the historic Roman city centre and witnessed history unfold at the Pope’s funeral. I can’t say I understood the whole ceremony as it was mostly in Italian. But, it was moving to be surrounded by people from all over the world celebrating together. A quick day trip to Napoli introduced me to the speed of Italian high-speed trains. And, a pizza that I will be dreaming about until the day I die. This week was also my 30th birthday. I never would have guessed that I’d be spending it in Italy working with some of the world’s leading experts in Earth Observation. But, here we are! Work-wise, I am finally digging into the scripting side of things to prepare a dataset to train my model on. Without a background in computer science or programming, my scripts might be a little clunky, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right? The debugger and I are going to be best friends.
Week 4: Conference, collaborations and so.much.code
This week was the AI4EO conference, co-hosted by the ESA ϕ-lab and NASA, was a deep dive into developing and evaluating AI models for Earth observation. Though some technical details flew over my head, the enthusiasm around the various research projects was inspiring. I connected with fellow researchers. And, although there was no one working on the same material as me, I did scout out a couple potential collaborators for some colleagues back in Brisbane. In less positive news: it felt like I hit a brick wall this week in my work. It’s just one error message after the other and half the time I don’t even know where the issue is. I’ve been trying to keep it in mind that slow progress is still progress… But, when that doesn’t work, a quick coffee break with these exceptional folks has been a sure-fire way to brighten my day!
Thanks for joining me on this journey through my first month at ESA! There’s much more to come in the next month and a half – from some coding breakthroughs (fingers crossed) to exploring Italy’s hidden gems – so I’ll keep you posted!
