Meet Reona Fernandes—GIS Engineer, nurture.farm

Say hello to Reona Fernandes, GIS Engineer at nurture.farm. She monitors the activities carried out on the field and helps keep track of its status through remote sensing. At ground level, she is a passionate dancer, an avid reader and a movie buff.

How did you become interested in your line of work?

It was not something I ever thought I would do. I was introduced to remote sensing while pursuing my bachelors in geology. We had it as an elective subject in the fifth semester. While studying, I remember we had photogrammetry—extracting 3D information from aerial images. We used various instruments on the field, so it intrigued me. I thoroughly researched what aspects it covers. It further introduced me to Geoinformatics—science and technology that uses geospatial data; hence I decided to pursue my masters in it. It is not a well-known field; it’s quite fascinating, and I hope more people pursue it.

How would you describe your role within the company?

I’m a GIS Engineer. My job involves monitoring the activities carried out on the field. I help keep track of the field’s status through remote sensing. It uses satellites 700 km above ground level and captures thousands of square km at once. We can see how the land changes through time without being present in person.

What is a lesson or experience that is unique to your profession???

I find it difficult to explain to others what I do. Though we have so many satellites orbiting around, it isn't easy to find a single set of data we can use. There are times we have clouds covering the images, and we can’t get an insight, then we have to shift to something else or combine two satellite data. It has its challenges, but it’s fun exploring.?

What energises you about your work?

My work is mostly researching and developing. We don’t know if we will get the results we want, but it excites us when it works, so I pat myself on the back whenever I’m successful. There are new challenges every day, which keeps me excited, and of course, I work with brilliant minds on my team. They all think differently than I do, so exchanging ideas becomes fun and makes me dig deeper into problems.?

What motivates you to stay positive???

I always heard how offices could be hectic, and you will hate it most times. It’s been the opposite for me. There are times of immense workload, but I found a great team who prioritised my well being and comfort. At every stage, my work is appreciated, which helps me perform better.?

What has helped you build confidence?

When we are valued and appreciated for our work, it makes us feel better and boosts our confidence. I have seen that at nurture.farm. I have been appreciated a lot. Mitali always celebrates my smallest win. Even when I mess up a bit, she has mentored me well and valued my work and time. It has helped me with my confidence a lot. More often than not, I’m calmer and more focused than being tense about things not working out.?

What is the greatest risk you have taken???

Taking up GIS as a career. I was a little unconfident about choosing it, as I had no background knowledge. I just took up the subject because it felt interesting. I did my bachelors in geology for the same reason and had no coding experience, but I learned to code working here and applied what I learned in my masters, which also has helped me realise that this is something I’m enjoying and I’m happy at the end of the day.

What lessons and experiences can you share as a woman?

As a woman, expectation begins even as a kid. I have faced problems like people judging my abilities. But I am very lucky to have a supportive family around me. They have more faith in me about the various paths I choose. And I have told myself not to care what others think, and this support has helped me be more vocal about my thoughts.

I worked with Mitali when I joined nurture.farm as an intern. She was leading the GIS working alone; now, we are a team of three. I always felt trust and confidence in her and everyone else I interacted with. Here I have a safe place to express my views and get full support for my work. I was lucky enough to work with a woman who believed in me and made me feel comfortable from the start. I think it’s easier for women to talk to other women; they feel more comfortable.

Throughout your career, who were your biggest inspirations?

My career span is very short; I’m just a fresher. I have done a five-month internship and been on the job for four months now, both at nurture.farm. However, Mitali and Yugandhar have always been my inspiration since I was an intern. They are the people I look up to. The knowledge and confidence they carry in their work and their leadership quality are things I would want in the future. They both believe in giving us control over the work, which has helped me think beyond my limits.

What is the best advice you have ever received???

There are many. “Be patient and believe in yourself” is something I want to follow. My professors and mentors have told me this a lot. I’m a very impatient and confused person; hence, I even lack confidence while presenting my work. People have asked me to be confident about my work even if I know no one will understand or question my ability. I hope to get there one day.

Would you have done anything differently if you knew what you know now?

I don't think I would change anything. I believe we learn from our mistakes, and it’s more important to evolve from our mistakes instead of sticking to them.

What are some of the traits that you admire the most amongst the people you work with?

Calmness, even in situations where things are not working out. I have seen people stay calm and handle the situation step by step really well. Everyone around here is accepting and helpful.

How do you engage with and empower others???

I don’t think I’m at a stage to empower others yet, but I make sure I’m friendly and available to talk to; it helps engage with others. Participating in activities at nurture.farm that interest me has helped me interact with other teams and make new friends.

Why do you think empathy is so important in this day and age???

I strongly feel empathy plays an important role in helping anyone be comfortable in a new place. We all have some or the other problem we tend not to be open about. Everyone around us is different—we come from different backgrounds and have different values. With the ongoing pandemic, you never know what anyone is going through. Being empathetic helps us bond well with each other. If we all are empathetic towards each other, it makes us comfortable sharing our views without the fear of judgement.?

What are your interests/hobbies?

My interests are dancing, reading, and watching movies. I’m not very good at dancing, but I love it—it helps me calm down after a very stressful day. I always wished to learn one of the dance forms professionally. Hopefully, this year I’ll start learning one of the classical dances. I also love to read a lot—fiction, thriller, sci-fi, and mystery are my genres. Be it any language or genre, I enjoy watching movies as long as the storyline is good. I developed an obsession in my college days when my friend taught me how to analyse them, so I have turned into a film critic nowadays for sure.