Blog Posts

Welcome to my blog. I write about my experiences as a PhD student: both the research and the mental health side of it. On the research side, I'm interested in the intersection between Earth Observation and Machine Learning and interdisciplinary research in general.

Browse the blog by tags or by categories. You can view all the categories on the categories page.

Total: 29 Posts


An image of a small lined ringband notebook lying diagonally on a table, and a person's hand hovering over it with a pen.

October 3, 2024

Science

Outlining feels useless because I can't stick to it anyways. I learned there is a word for my kind of people, and that's intuitive writers. Here I write about how I found a way to write complex texts without outlining.

An illustration of a silhouette of a woman with a ponytail with a suitcase standing in front of a door opening, with a long shadow stretching out.

September 24, 2024

Essays

I was never afraid travelling. Now I'm pretty nervous when I travel alone. But I don't think that's such a bad thing.

An illustration of a path with three points: start, middle, end. The first half is squiggly with many ups and downs. There are flowers and rainbows along the way, but also dark forest and thunderclouds. The second half is uncertain and there are many possible paths, one of them not leading to the endpoint. In the middle, there is a sun, showing optimism.

September 7, 2024

Science

I start the second half of my PhD with a research visit to Italy. I'm just as excited about this visit as about the rest of my PhD.

August 31, 2024

Science

Making ML-ready datasets for Earth Observation is tricky. Here are some tools to help you get started.

Photo of the Old Observatory in Leiden in winter, covered by snow.

August 20, 2024

Science

I was a tour guide for three years during my bachelor's. I never thought about concrete skills I learned beyond the vague 'gaining public speaking experience.', but now I understand the valuable skills it taught me that improved my confidence as a speaker

Illustration of a notebook and two thought bubbles with reflections.

August 9, 2024

Science

Reviewing projects is a small habit that has helped me feel better and let go. In this blog, I explain what I like about it and how I do it.

Illustration of a clipboard with a form to be filled in, with a pencil and a circular arrow representing reusability.

July 31, 2024

Science

I've read productivity books and watched videos so you don't have to. Most focus on the same thing: you need to write down your thoughts for a few minutes before you act. In this blog, I explain this strategy and share how it has helped me make better decisions.

A picture of two people gripping eachothers hands.

July 25, 2024

Storytime

At a storytelling course another PhD student shared her story of making her way to a PhD, it has stuck with me ever since.

A photo of an arrow etched into a white wall.

July 13, 2024

Science

We've all been there. You're so well prepared, but you realise you completely oversaw some important detail, and you heart drops. I use these as opportunities to improve my next workshop.

A photo of me, dressed almost all in pink, hosting my ML4EO workshop.

July 1, 2024

Science

Organising workshops can be exciting and rewarding. It's a great way to get to know more people and have other people know you. I share 7 tips I learned about organising workshops.

Image of a person sketching a diagram with pen and paper.

June 20, 2024

Science

I've read productivity books and watched videos so you don't have to. Most focus on the same thing: you need to write down your thoughts for a few minutes before you act. In this blog, I explain this strategy and share how it has helped me make better decisions.

An image of an audience in foldable chairs, with people cheering and clapping.

June 4, 2024

Science

We can learn a lot from successful presentations. In this blog, I share three tips I learned from a presentation by a famous science communicator.