At the end of 2021, as part of a university course on peace research, I started diving into the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its current production of minerals. During this research I came across IPIS and its Open Data Dashboard, which impressed me a lot. When I saw that there was a student job opportunity for the GIS and data analysis team, I applied; and beginning of 2022, I started working as a student assistant at IPIS.
With my current studies in geoinformation technologies, this was the ideal opportunity for me to apply my technical knowledge in a topic that is interesting and relevant for me. My work at IPIS consisted of different tasks: analysing data in R, searching for new datasets, pre-processing data in QGIS and creating maps. Adding to that, thanks to my previous experience in the field of satellite remote sensing, I was given the task of investigating the use of satellite data for the detection of changes in mining environment. Using the Open Data Cube technology, Python and Jupyter Notebooks, I helped writing a script to produce outputs that aim to provide new perspectives on mines. Their evolution over years as well as associated environmental changes are particularly interesting. I hope that IPIS will continue to further expand the possibilities in the field of remote sensing using satellite imagery. I am very thankful for the nice integration in the team and the opportunity to get an insight into the work of IPIS through my student job.
— Raphaela Edler
IPIS gave me the opportunity to sharpen my data-analysis and RStudio skills in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. While working for IPIS I got in touch with the whole research process and learned more about the different stages of research. During my time at IPIS, I worked on a variety of tasks ranging from data cleaning to data visualization. All this happened under the support of lovely and friendly colleagues. To all students who want to learn skills by doing I would highly recommend IPIS.
— Daan Vandervelde
