Julia Wąsala
AI Researcher | Science communicator
"I want to understand how things work, to build AI for Earth systems we can trust to support our decision-making.
About Me
I'm an AI researcher at the Leiden Institute for Advanced Computer Science (LIACS)and the Space Research Organisation Netherlands (SRON). I design and evaluate machine learning methods for Earth Observation, for instance to find large greenhouse gas emissions from space.
Public engagement with research is very important to me. I write about AI and Earth Observation on my Substack newsletter [NL] and on my blog [EN].
Nothing beats speaking to people directly, so I regularly speak and participate in public AI events.
Research
I research how we can automatically create machine learning methods for Earth Observation applications, such as detecting large greenhouse gas emissions from space. I want to better understand how we can predict the performance and trustworthiness of machine learning models in real life. We all know how AI sysems can break down in the real world, but the well-known problem of bias looks very different in satellite data.
My recent publications (full list on LinkedIn):
- AutoMergeNet: AutoML-Based M-Source Satellite Data Fusion Evaluated With Atmospheric Case Studies.
- Mitigating Representation Bias Caused by Missing Pixels in Methane Plume Detection.
More about my research on:
Click to expand
“I love finding & leveraging surprising parallels and connections. Curiosity drives everything I do. '
Public Engagement
AI research is so much more than ChatGPT. Did you know that not all AI use that much energy? And that satellite data can also be biased? How you write a good algorithm is not just societally relevant, it's also a fun puzzle.
My main goal in public engagement is connecting with people. I do that through writing, talks, workshop, leading discussions and engaging with kids through events like hackathons. I'm inerested in everybody's take on AI, from all ages and backgrounds.
- Using AI to track greenhouse gas emissions - Leiden University
- Why the gender imbalance in computer science is a reason for me to stay in tech - column.
- AI is a solution and a problem for climate change - quoted in Vrij Nederland
Watch & Listen
April 21, 2026
AI Pub Quiz 2026
We organized an AI Pub Quiz for the Leiden community. We had a great turnout of 15 teams and lots of fun! This event was co-located with the IDA 2026 symposium.
March 19, 2026
Kids'Science Show
I'm participating in the Hoe?Zo! Show, a science show encouraging curiosity in primary school children. A group of PhD students answers questions using improvisation theatre and fun props.
February 26, 2026
Column about celebrating women's day more effectively
I wrote an opinion piece for the Leiden University magazine 'Mare' about how we can make women's day celebrations more effective by going beyond just talking about what's wrong.
January 3, 2026
Columnist at De Ingenieur
I write a column for De Ingenieur, a Dutch magazine about science and technology. I write about media, AI, and what it means to be in STEM today.
January 2, 2026
Interview about my motivation
Science & Technology magazine 'De Ingenieur' interviewed me about what drives me.
December 8, 2025
Managing a Dutch SciComm LinkedIn page
The week of 8 december 2025 I was invited to manage the NLWetenschap Linkedin account, where every week a different Dutch researcher posts about their research. I wrote about AI for satellite images
November 27, 2025
Column about male work culture in computer science
For the Dutch project Actieplan Groene & Digitale Banen, I wrote a column about my experience of the male culture in tech.
November 7, 2025
Mentor at Youth Hackathon for Good
I mentored a team of high-school students during the Youth Hackathon for Good 2025, helping them develop an idea to improve kids' bike safety.
October 21, 2025
Workshop on SciComm about AI
I organised a workshop on science communication for AI researchers at my institute, LIACS, where we discussed how we can have more AI researchers participate in the public debate about AI.
October 20, 2025
Kids' explainer videos
Is there a chance AI will take over the world? I answer the questions of primary school kids from Leiden.
October 10, 2025
Kids' explainer videos
Is ChatGPT bad for the environment? I answer the questions of primary school kids from Leiden.
October 8, 2025
Lecture at Leiden student association
I gave a lecture about AI for Earth Observation and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration at the Prometheus student association in Leiden.
October 5, 2025
Talk at Weekend van de Wetenschap
During the 2025 Weekend van de Wetenschap, I gave a talk about AI for satellite images at the Dutch Royal Engineering Society (KIVI) as part of the event 'Inspiring Engineers.'
September 19, 2025
Conference talk at MACLEAN / ECML-PKDD
I presented my work on representation bias caused by missing pixels in methane plume detection at MACLEAN / ECML-PKDD 2025 in Porto.
May 5, 2025
Talk at COSEAL 2025
I gave a talk & presented a poster about AutoML4EO at COSEAL 2025, a workshop on the COnfiguration and SElection of ALgorithms, hosted by University of Porto.
March 10, 2025
Teach-out at strike against higher education budget cuts
I visited a primary school in my neighborhood to teach a class of 4-6 year old kids about AI and satellites, as part of the strikes against budget cuts in Dutch higher education.
October 10, 2024
Talk at Pie and AI the Hague
Pie & AI is a series of DeepLearning.AI meetups organised by Vikram Mark Radhakrishnan of The Hague University of Applied Sciences. I was invited to speak at the AI for Good event on my research for AI for climate.
September 18, 2024
Co-chair at URBIS-2024 Super-Resolution session
I'm the co-chair at the Super-Resolution session taking place at the 2024 URBIS workshop organised at ESA ESRIN.
September 17, 2024
Talk at ESA Φ-Lab
As a part of my visit to Φ-Lab, I'm giving a talk about my research on AutoML4EO at the Φ-Lab. The talk is open to all of ESRIN.
September 1, 2024
Visiting researcher at ESA Φ-Lab
In September 2024, I was a visitor at the Φ-Lab, at ESA/ESRIN in Rome.
July 13, 2024
Panelist at the ESSAI 2024 summer school R2net event
I was invited as a panelist on a panel on mental health of PhDs in AI. The panel was part of a workshop on AI Research & Mental Well-Being, collocated with the 2024 ESSAI European Summer School on AI in Athens, Greece.
July 3, 2024
Impact Story on my research within the TAILOR project
I am part of the TAILOR network, an EU project for fostering trusthworthy AI. My colleague Annelot Bosman and I were interviewed about our research on AutoAI.
June 24, 2024
Talk at Extreme Extremities symposium at Boerhaave Museum
My colleague Laurens Arp and I gave a talk about using Machine Learning for wildlife conservation at the Extreme Extremities symposium at Boerhaave museum in Leiden.
May 30, 2024
ML4EO Workshop
I organised a workshop on ML4EO for early career researchers, at my institute, LIACS. The workshop was supported by SAILS. The workshop consisted of five talks, with the goal to share eachothers work and spark interdisciplinary collaborations.
April 1, 2024
Interview in Vrij Nederland about the energy footprint of AI
Dutch newspaper Vrij Nederland interviewed me along with other researchers on the topic of the carbon footprint of AI.
June 3, 2023
Talk at Alumni Day Study Association De Leidsche Flesch
I was invited to present my research at the 2023 alumni day of my former study association, De Leidsche Flesch.
March 6, 2023
Poster at COSEAL 2023
I pitched and presented a poster at COSEAL 2023, a workshop on the COnfiguration and SElection of ALgorithms, hosted by Sorbonne University & LIP6 in Paris.
October 26, 2022
Article about my research topic on the Leiden University website
The university website published an interview with me about my research topic: AutoML for EO, and how it can help to get better results in EO tasks, faster.
October 11, 2022
Radio interview about Ada Lovelace and AI
I appeared on the local radio station, a temporary station called Radio Weetlust created for the Leiden City of Science event in 2022. The theme of the day was Ada Lovelace. I was invited to talk about her and about AI. It was fitting because our research group is called ADA! I enjoyed this experience a lot.
February 11, 2019
Astronomy Bachelor Promo Video
As a part of my role as student ambassador to the Astronomy Bachelor program, I was part of a promotional video for the program.
“Whether I'm researching, writing, or teaching, I don’t want to give a lecture, I want you to feel my enthusiasm!
Teaching
Machine Learning for Earth Observation is a relatively new field. As a result, I had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. In my teaching, I help students navigate the world of satellite data and the intricacies of evaluating machine learning pipelines for real-world applications.
- I supervise Machine Learning for Earth Observation Master's thesis. Find available thesis topics here.
- Machine Learning Bachelor's course
- Urban Computing Master's course.
I share many of my teaching materials on my Blog