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Mentor4Nepal Initiative

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#Mentor4Nepal Initiative is for recent graduates and early career professionals focusing on the enhancement of one’s skill set, support for a research project, and a collaborative publication. Various sectors such as #engineering, #environmentalscience, #forestry, #agriculture, #transportation, #publichealth, #management, and #informationtechnology can take advantage of both #geospatial and artificial technologies (GeoAI). Geospatial technology associates any problem with coordinates and gives us a better picture of how things are located, related, and changing. #GeoAI is utilizing AI for intelligent geographic information such as image classification, object detection, scene segmentation, simulation and interpolation, link prediction, (natural language-based) retrieval and question answering, on-the-fly data integration, geo-enrichment, and many others (https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2019.1684500). Thus, an application can be broad and can be utilized to answer any research gap that you feel in our society and supports the UN's SDGs (https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM.2019.2706). The concept can be small and viable considering one's situation.

Theme: Application of geospatial technologies and artificial intelligence (GeoAI). The field is not limited and the project can be object detection such as land cover and features, supporting sustainable development goals in the land, water, forest, crop, and energy dynamics, linking people’s perception, activities, government action/policy to climate change, etc.

A project can be an individual or a group (3 max.). Priority will be given to novelty, use of open-access data, tools, and impact on society. Financial support can be provided for a promising project depending on the necessity and impact of the work. It is voluntary participation for your future growth, especially in academia. It will focus on the enhancement of one’s skill set. The concept will be yours and you will be leading the project to a successful first-authored publication. I will simply guide you by answering your queries, linking the right resources, and step-by-step process of academic research and publication. Full Article Processing Charge (APC) will be supported for the open access publication in SCIE-indexed journals. See previous M4N publications: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Mentor4Nepal-Initiative and some #M4NUpdates: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=m4nupdate.

Interested candidates (National and International) can email me at tridevacharya[at]gmail.com with their queries. To initiate any collaboration for their desired mini-project (which can be simple at this stage), please complete the following instructions (use any one method to create a sharable folder):

In addition, one should think of it as an opportunity to create a life-long mentor-mentee relationship to help each other for a long-term career via Facebook Group [Request only approved after a successful proposal of a project]. One-on-one career counseling will be provided along with a tailored career/research guide based on one’s interest and future milestones such as Education, Job, Investment, Settlement, Marriage, Partner's career, Kids, Family, Society, etc. Understanding these milestones from an early age and balancing them is the key to a happy future. One should carefully consider important questions like how much education I need, how much money I need to sustain my future, or when is a good time to marry, start a family, and settle. An ideal case is always realizing all these in Nepal together with the family and living happily. Read https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159465595218501&id=795108500.

To share the progress and reflect on the blocks, a half-hour biweekly meeting is preferred. One may go to Google Calendar https://calendar.google.com/ and create a biweekly meeting with the title "Biweekly Meeting: InitialsFirstLastName_TDA" e.g. Biweekly Meeting: TDA_TDA adding me as a guest with my Gmail only. For Nepal, 6-9:00 AM is fine with me. Do check, Modify events for guests so that I can adjust time as per my schedule.

First, follow the blog here: https://mentor4nepal.blogspot.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/Mentor4Nepal

Let's start by understanding the Mental Health among Students/Adolescents [Everyone has problems, sharing and supporting each other are the key.]

Then, the Imposter syndrome [Everyone goes through it. So, forget it and focus on your long-term goal.]

Finally, the types of intelligence [Everyone is different and have their strength and weakness, focus on what are you good at and forget the rest.]

Making your day productive:

A productive career with Multitasking?

Reading strategies:

Podcasts and Webinars:

Understanding Journals and Plagiarism: MUST Avoid Copy-Pasting and Publishing on Predatory Journals

List of core research journals:

Building Foundation: Doing Systemic Review:

If you plan to write a review paper, don't just collect a paper summary but try to bring collective wisdom and have a few experts to collaborate with. Some examples of review articles:

Components of Successful Manuscript:

A few mini-project ideas but not limited to:

  • GIS & Transportation
    • Agent-based modeling of logistics services
    • Visualizing the transportation inequality in Nepalese cities
    • Mobility justice/inequality in Kathmandu or major cities of Nepal
    • Analyzing pedestrian/cycling infrastructure along the Nepalese Roads
    • Mapping and understanding walkability/bikeability in the Nepalese cities
    • Spatial analysis of travel distance from the perspective of peri-urban segments
  • Socio-economic/environmental components and their distribution in Nepalese cities
  • Understanding climate change perception and adaptation by stakeholders in Nepal
  • Agriculture degradation/urbanization growth and modeling their drivers
  • Impact of urbanization in Terai region: land, agriculture, and food
  • Identifying inundated agricultural areas during monsoon
  • Assessment of past flood changes across Terai / Basin
  • Fusing SAR and optical data for crop/forest mapping
  • Sustainability in food water & climate ecosystem
  • Water bodies & boundaries detection with SAR
  • Surface water dynamics over a long period
  • Spaceborne gravity and anomaly
  • Informal settlement identification
  • Geospatial analysis of Twitter hashtags
  • Ecosystem services value of Nepalese regions
  • Deep / Machine Learning modeling and prediction
  • Spatial analysis of wildlife disturbances in agriculture
  • Spatio-temporal variability of climatic indicators in Nepal
  • Identifying open space for emergency evacuations within Kathmandu
  • Annual flood/drought monitoring in Terai using multispectral or SAR imagery
  • Satellite-based characterization of urban land dynamics such as urban greenness score
  • Encroachment of forest/river by human activities: spatiotemporal quantification over years
  • Relating crowdsourced landscape perceptions to landscape physical characteristics in Nepalese cities
  • Counting tree crowns and monitoring their health status using high-resolution satellite/UAV imagery in Kathmandu

Further mini-project ideas:

Collection of eBooks:
R-based

Python-based

General

Collection of Tools and Tutorials for Geospatial Studies:

Collection of Tools and Tutorials for Computer Vision:

Other Resources:

For those who plan to use their thesis work as a mini-project for the M4N collaboration, see the following links. It will take a year to build a foundation and plan a thesis that addresses a research gap/problem that has some implication for the sector you are focusing on or society as a whole.

Before you start writing a thesis draft, collect a few examples from the following search engines and outline your content. As you read papers and progress in your work, write something roughly on these sections with Mendeley references. This will help you remember steps and refine your thesis better while doing the final draft.

Thesis Proposal:

Improving the English of your writings:

  • Use MS Word Editor: First, go to your Review tab, select your language (British or American English), and then open the editor to check spelling and grammar.
  • Use external tools such as Grammarly: Install MS Office and Chrome plugins: https://app.grammarly.com/apps and use them to check grammar at the end of the above process.
  • [ALERT] Use Google/Word Docs Online: As you will be working on Google Drive or BOX with me, you may also open the file with Google Docs (GD online erases the format and can't use reference via Mendeley) or Word online (in BOX you can use open with word online) and it will check English by default.
  • For reading use this addon https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-dictionary-by-goog/mgijmajocgfcbeboacabfgobmjgjcoja

Given most of the inquiries I have received are for abroad studies, there are a few things to consider before taking that pathway. Read all the points and comments here https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159465595218501&id=795108500. Talk to your families and friends on these topics and decide

  • Where will you settle: Nepal or abroad? Once outside, there is a rare chance of returning to Nepal. Now understand the purpose and disadvantages of a graduate degree https://lnkd.in/duWwy9hN
  • Do you have to take care of your parents? For a few years, it will be fine, but it will be a major issue once parents reach older age.
  • When to marry, settle, have kids, and think partner's career trajectory? Most people think of themselves and focus on one aspect of life and end up delaying every other aspect.
  • Above all, what's after grad school? Most students don't have a long-term plan that will leave them back in the same position what's the next escape?

Understanding and evaluating aspects of life:

Understanding yourself and your situation:

  • Are you self-aware? Do you understand yourself: your values, morale, work style, pace of understanding, work style, and trusting instincts?
  • When have you seen or felt yourself doing your best?
  • How have you handled your worst day?
  • Do you complain a lot?
  • Are you comparing too much with others?
  • Do you blame others like the government, society, university, education, teachers, etc.?
  • Have you ever evaluated your past, current, and future in a dark room with absolute silence?
  • What's your interest? What do you like most? What will never get you bored?
  • What is your next life goal, not career or education?
  • What is your family legacy in the country?
  • What do your parents want for you?
  • What does your next promotion look like?
  • Do you have those skills and requirements to compete?
  • What exactly are you missing from this promotion?
  • If you know the missing piece, are you on track to gain that knowledge?
  • What's the roadblock?
  • Have you asked searched the internet, asked seniors, or consulted your teachers or parents?
  • Are you taking small steps at a time or just thinking big?
  • What is your economic threshold? How much is basic security for you?
  • What skill can enhance your earnings, not adding certificates that overqualify you in the job market?
  • Are you afraid to leave your comfort zone?
  • Are you running away from problems and conflicts in life?
  • Can you see problems around you? Problems in daily life, work, and everywhere?
  • What is stopping you from solving these problems?
  • Can you develop a business model out of these problems to generate an economy and job market?
  • Have you ever tried hobby jobs on the weekend or free time?
  • What are your family members' strengths?
  • Have you ever complemented those skills/expertise to build a strong family business?
  • Have you ever planned for retirement? What age, financial figure, and where?
  • Have you ever reversed your life from your retirement plan? Age for the last kid, the age for marriage, etc.
  • Have you ever talked to your parents, and colleagues and validated your thoughts or sought advice?

Career planning: Career planning is a lifelong process, the earlier one does, the better it becomes. Target your mid-term and long-term goals, and take the next step (which might be difficult compared to the easy next step) toward the career goal.

Once you decide to go abroad to study, find the minimum requirement for the desired degree. Build a good resume, and personal statement, and draft a unique specific email to professors that perfectly matches your interest. Random emailing might not get any reply. Keep in mind that there are 100s of other students and what makes you outstanding to others. Read blogs from here: https://mentor4nepal.blogspot.com. Also read this advice: https://sarah-cooley.com/applying-to-graduate-school. For those who wish to join PhD read this once https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf. Personally, a bachelor's degree is easy in developing countries, a master's is perfect for going abroad and a Ph.D. is a huge waste of time, earnings, and energy in life.

Template for Cover letter and CV/Resume:

Making Personal Statement or Statement of Purpose (SOP):

Making Research Statement or Proposal:

Writing Emails to Professors:

Sample Recommendation Letters:

Being a Grad Student:

Geospatial degree: Geomatics engineering is a terminal degree and GIS/RS/GPS are tools. There is nothing beyond it. Masters or post-grad in GIS/RS are for those who are not from the geomatics background and want to learn these tools to support their research or enhance their analysis skills in a particular domain. Repeating the same GIS/RS/WebGIS course is not a good choice. It is advised to build a solid foundation in a particular domain such as hydrology, urban planning, environment science, geology/geosciences, coastal/marine, cryosphere, etc. If you are not coming from different undergraduate and graduate programs, a PhD in the geospatial domain is also not very useful in industry or research.

Job: Job is an aspect of life that should be carefully considered while planning a career and settlement. Find the minimum requirements of the targeted job while planning education and career, or else one can be back to the same position with a higher degree in hand. Research if you can find a job within 100 km, if not it will get difficult with the distance. Read the challenges of recent graduate students https://lnkd.in/gRxaCmWk

  • ADVICE: Make sure that you reach out to your recent senior who went through your situation of selecting advisors, courses, research projects/thesis, internships, jobs, interviews, change of status, etc.
  • WARNING: Most geospatial jobs in the US require Citizen/Permanent Resident, not F1/J1/H1B. Some examples are as follows. So, be careful while choosing programs and courses that are non-STEM like MA Geography, and very core geospatial like Geographic Information Sciences and Geospatial Data Science Specialization. And don't waste time on applying for jobs that require the following.
    • A U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident.
    • Expatriate assignments will not be considered.
    • Active Top Secret/SCI Clearance or ability and desire to obtain a clearance.
    • Machine Learning Quality Engineer / Image Analyst position requires being a US citizen.
    • Must have current/active TS/SCI security clearance and be willing and able to obtain CI Polygraph.
    • U.S. Citizenship is required along with the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
  • Alternative markets are for a certified geographic information systems professional (GISP: https://www.gisci.org/Students/About-the-Program), a professional land surveyor (PLS), or a developer. The best is developer if you develop your skillset before entering the US or start a license for PLS, GISP, or remote pilot-in-command (RPIC) licenses asap you enter the US. The last resort is third-party contractors like KBR, TetraTech construction companies, etc. with talent acquisition/recruitment firms like InSight Global with no benefits for 6 months.
  • Divide 3-5 categories of jobs you see in the market like Sat Company, PrecAg, Utility, Construction, etc., and adapt your Resume and Cover letter as per these categories.
  • Make details relevant to the job not what you did. Remember companies want average long-term employees not smart short-term jumpers.
  • Always add "After selection,..." what you will do if selected that is relevant to the job and what you will try your best to learn.
  • US-based Geospatial jobs https://www.gislounge.com/gis-job-listings/
  • US-based Data Science jobs https://datalab.ucdavis.edu/jobs/
  • For North American and Global jobs https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/
  • Geo Jobs https://discourse.pangeo.io/c/news/jobs
  • Geospatial jobs https://geospatial.substack.com/archive
  • Other job boards https://icc.ucdavis.edu/find/resources/online-job-search/job-boards
  • Negotiation https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/salary-negotiation-scripts-for-any-job/
  • Utilizing LinkedIn https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/14-ways-to-leverage-your-linkedin-profile-during-your-job-search
  • Current US market and Canada as an alternate: https://youtu.be/C6nOWE8betQ

Get connected with me !!!
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