GIS based science is built to address the “Big” problems of our society, all the way from the grassroots level, catalyzing community-driven mapping initiatives that can aid in times of need, to analyzing and mapping areas of high flood risk that can pre-emptively reduce loss of life and property.
Amruth Kiran, our next pathbreaker, Senior Associate – Geospatial Lab at Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), uses spatial knowledge to aid IIHS’s research, pedagogy and capacity-building initiatives.
Amruth talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about GIS which is growing into an exceptionally inter-disciplinary domain encompassing Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Big Data, Biodiversity and Geology.
For students, Geo-Spatial technologies are growing by leaps and bounds, powered by cloud based infrastructure such as AWS and Azure as well as on-premises servers.
Amruth, tell us what were your initial years like?
I grew up in Bengaluru and took up Computer Science for my 10th grade at Ryan International School and Science for my 12th at Sindhi College. I’ve always loved computers and was lucky enough to have one at home from an early age. This was mainly due to my father’s career focusing on Clinical Research and interdisciplinary medicine at The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Science and Technology (TDU), Bengaluru. You could say it was at the cross-section of Geography, Medicine and Computer Science for a very niche sector, this piqued my interest and overall nurtured my critical thinking and research aptitude early on.
What did you do for graduation / post-graduation?
Continuing my interest in Computers, I studied Computer Science and Engineering at SJCIT, Chikkaballapura – a quaint but well-reputed college on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Towards the end of the course, for the final project, I applied for an internship at the Centre for Traditional Knowledge, Data Science, and Informatics (TDU), where I was introduced to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS). My team and I developed an Android application to map out the distribution of medicinal plants and other amenities for primary health care.
GIS, in simple terms, is the collection, management, analysis and visualization of location information. Remote Sensing is the study of the Earth and its processes using remotely sensed data from satellites, drones or any high-flying aircraft.
As I had a taste of what GIS and Remote Sensing had to offer, I applied and was accepted into the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun – an R&D unit of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) that specializes in training and capacity-building of Geospatial technology and its applications through research in southeast Asia. The 2-year MTech program provided a stable foundation and experience in learning Cartography, working with large Earth Observation (EO) data and high-performance computing using open-source tools and services. My dissertation on building a “Data Cube” and spatial modeling platform for the Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN) was crucial in terms of paving a path to my future career.
What were some of the drivers that influenced you to pursue such an offbeat, unconventional and unique career?
Self-motivation and interests can only take you so far. Many people behind the scenes have guided me every step of the way and I still count on them occasionally for direction. It all started with my internship for my bachelor’s at TDU. Ms. Satya Sangeetha, who was my mentor at the time, provided the right inputs and knowledge to start learning GIS and Remote Sensing. During my master’s, Mr. Prasun Kumar Gupta, my project supervisor, was instrumental in guiding me throughout my tenure at IIRS and helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses.
The turning point in my career was my internship at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru. I joined IIHS in 2018, right after my master’s to work at the Geospatial Lab, IIHS. Mr. Teja Malladi who was heading the lab at the time, was (and continues to be) my long-standing mentor and friend. Teja’s eye for detail, brevity and compassion is what struck a chord with me. Guiding and collaborating on dozens of projects, I’ve learned invaluable skills, both technical and soft.
Geospatial Information Science (GIScience), Earth Observation and Cartography (sometimes bundled together as Geoinformatics) are the domains I specialize in. My experiences, with all my past and present mentors, came together like a puzzle that fit perfectly and cemented the idea that this is the career I’d like to choose.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path
Building foundations is key. GIS and Remote Sensing is a very technical field with a diverse range of sub-domains to specialize in. Depending on which subdomain one would choose, a thorough understanding of the basics is required to hone your skills further. Geoinformatics requires a good grasp of programming skills, statistics, data visualization and computing know-how.
I began to prepare for my role early on (almost unknowingly) by doing what I love – tinkering with computers (software and hardware). Writing scripts to automate the boring stuff, understanding why computing architectures on the cloud are made the way they are and eventually combining these with location information, i.e. spatial data. Computing and GIScience go hand in hand.
During my internship at IIHS, I began experimenting with building larger-scale deployments of spatial information. How can one map the entire country using cloud-free (filtering, cleaning, and processing imagery during the non-monsoon season? This is a crucial step to ensure that what you see on the ground is not blocked by clouds). If the imagery has clouds, what are the alternative technologies available to combat this? How much computing power would this require? What are the algorithms that are suitable for such a task? How can I make spatial data more accessible? These are some of the questions I tried to tackle back then. Fast forward to today and I lead the development of an institution-wide Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and knowledge system that caters not only to the Lab’s growth but also supports spatial data and analytical requirements of other teams within IIHS. I’m also faculty at the IIHS Urban Fellows Programme (UFP) and the IIHS Urban Practitioners Programme (UPP), where I teach introductory and advanced courses on spatial thinking, GIS and Remote Sensing, open-source tools, and survey design.
The domain I work in does not have a strict educational requirement, this is mainly because it’s very interdisciplinary. Someone with a background in Environmental Science and Geography could also work on the topics that I do. Computer Science was a bonus in my case, I was able to leverage a personal interest into a career.
How did you get your first break?
To narrow down my first break is hard, it’s a tie between being accepted into IIRS for my master’s and becoming a full-time faculty at IIHS. Both experiences have shaped my career and outlook on life.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
I can probably combine all the challenges I’ve faced into one – you will never fully learn something. There is a big misconception around careers in general that once you do a degree or two, you won’t have to study anymore. This is not the case. I must constantly learn and relearn a lot of concepts and methods, try to tweak existing code, or completely redo a lot of my work. That is the state of technology today, especially in the case of GIScience. This domain is growing into exceptionally inter-disciplinary areas ranging from Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Big Data, to Economy, Biodiversity and Geology. There are instances where I ended up learning and implementing species distribution algorithms (an ecology/biodiversity domain) because a project required me to do so.
Keeping up with the trends in technology today is no easy task and it would be futile to even attempt. One can only identify specific areas and concentrate on building expertise there. This does not mean you lock yourself out of what’s happening in the world around you. A positive outlook on what you can do with the resources you have is what’s important.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I work at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru. I was absorbed into the institute as a full-time faculty after my internship here in 2018. I’m part of the Geospatial Lab (GSL) at IIHS, which uses spatial knowledge to aid research, pedagogy, and practice towards developing and curating spatial data, adopting innovative methodology, and shaping IIHS’ research and capacity-building initiatives. The major focus of my work is making spatial data more accessible to researchers and practitioners working in the Urban realm. I deal with the various technical requirements, legalities, and nuances of spatial data from various teams within IIHS and try to provide a simple and intuitive way to collect, manage, analyze, and visualize spatial data. My typical day could range anywhere from fieldwork, crunching lots of data on the cloud, making dozens of maps, teaching and mentoring and even hosting some workshops! The fact that I can do all these things day in, and day out is exactly why I love my job. The atmosphere of camaraderie and independence at IIHS, along with excellent research ethics and values makes my job a lot easier.
How does your work benefit society?
GIScience is built to answer the problems of society. I’ve worked on projects at the grassroots level – trying to understand how simple acts of terrace farming can reduce household temperatures and increase mental wellbeing. How community-driven mapping initiatives can help build robust data repositories and aid in times of need. Analyzing and mapping areas of high flood risk to reduce loss of life and property or predicting the spread of nonindigenous plant species to protect endangered ones. I believe Geospatial technology can help answer a lot of complex questions in the world today.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
I was part of a team that was studying the impact of urban and peri-urban agriculture in low-income settlements in Bengaluru and Pune. We visited these settlements, to collect spatial & non-spatial data and record interviews to understand how small farming and gardening practices help shape a household’s livelihood and its impact on their wellbeing. These localities were often crowded, homes were built near sewage lines and access to essential commodities was limited, but the residents practiced small terrace and front/back yard farming in pots, pans, bottles, and any small piece of soil around their homes. It was an enlightening experience where even during times of great turmoil, living in conditions that were far from ideal – they were content and found great joy in raising and nurturing plants for their daily use. They described this art in detail and compared it to raising a child. To this day, I think of this experience and how humbling it was to see the lives and little joys of people from marginalized communities.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
It’s okay to ask for help, it’s okay to reach out to people who have more experience than you and more importantly, it’s okay to fail. I was not a star performer during school or college, there were subjects that I absolutely disliked and even to this day there are subjects that take me a great deal of time and effort to grasp. I know I have my weaknesses, but I also know my strengths. This is the key to understanding your capabilities in any domain and eventual career you’d take up.
Internships provide an amazing opportunity to be part of teams and organizations from an early stage. Try to get into a few internships while doing your coursework. Although there are internships that can be demeaning and stressful where students are overworked and unpaid, there are good institutions out there that provide great working environments with a respectable stipend. Find these. Do not work for free or for “experience” alone.
Future Plans?
Geospatial technology in India is growing every day and I’m quite excited to see where this leads to. I recently joined a network of researchers and practitioners in Bengaluru under the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Bangalore Chapter (IEEE GRSS) where we’ll be engaging in a lot of educational and outreach activities. I’m also part of the “Let’s Talk Spatial” meetup group in the city, organizing workshops, talks and demonstrations of GIS and Remote Sensing for the common good. These initiatives, along with a distant dream of a PhD will keep me going for some time.