We are happy to announce that Teodora Mitroi, a Geophysics, CIRES, and ESOC Ph.D. student, has been awarded by the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation. Teodora was nominated by the Geology Department and her advisor, Kristy Tiampo, for her research on developing open-source, user-friendly tools to detect and potentially monitor natural hazards, such as landslides and volcanoes. She is currently designing the Satellite Landslide Identification and Detection (SLID) tool on Google Earth Engine, which uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and clustering (unsupervised machine learning) on the global level. Teodora is also creating a Python package for volcano deformation monitoring and magma reservoir inversions that utilizes Differential Interferometric SAR and DEMs.
Teodora’s goal is to advance Earth data science and techniques by combining remote sensing and machine learning with environmental issues and Earth processes. She is also dedicated to social justice and conducting and communicating science in service of the public. She aims to complete a congressional fellowship and integrate public policy and global affairs into her work. Teodora has been a graduate mentor with CU and UNAVCO, serves as a Student Representative on GSA’s Geology and Society division, and is a part of Buff Pantry through the Basic Needs Center on campus.
The ARCS Foundation Achievement award is granted to academically outstanding students studying to complete degrees in STEM and advance science and technology. Applicants must demonstrate community involvement, high academic achievement, and experiences such as internships and work outside of academia. To read more about the scholarship or the Colorado Chapter of the ARCS Foundation, visit their website.
