Geography Ph.D. student Ny Aina Rakotoarivony receives prestigious NASA FINESST award

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | [email protected]

M. Ny Aina Rakotoarivony

M. Ny Aina Rakotoarivony, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography, was awarded the prestigious Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant.

The FINESST grant will fund Rakotoarivony's research on the impact of the invasive plant Lespedeza cuneata, also known as Chinese bushclover,on grassland ecosystems, specifically in Oklahoma.

"Ny Aina joined my lab in 2021 as a Ph.D. student. After joining our program, Ny Aina hit the ground running and expanded on the work done in a relevant pilot study that we conducted a few years ago," said Dr. Hamed Gholizadeh, Ny Aina's advisor.

Rakotoarivony's work focuses on developing cost-effective remote sensingapproaches to map the spread of Lespedeza cuneataand assess its impacts on the grasslands of Oklahoma.

"I have always been fascinated by the application of novel remote sensing technologies to study pressing environmental issues," Rakotoarivony said. "As I was conducting my research, I became more aware of the significant threats of the invasive Lespedeza cuneataon grassland ecosystems and their biodiversity."

Rakotoarivony's research uses imaging spectroscopy - also known as hyperspectral remote sensing -collected from satellites, aircrafts and drones. Using imaging spectroscopy, researchers can collect highly detailed imagery with hundreds of spectral bands. However, a common challenge of doing hyperspectral remote sensing is the large volume of data.

"We can easily end up with terabytes of data," Rakotoarivony said. "To address this issue, I use Oklahoma State University's Pete supercomputer for data analysis when needed."

Rakotoarivony's proposal was one of the 55 selected proposals out of 431 submitted to the Earth Science Division of the NASA FINESST program in 2024. In order to get her FINESST grant funded, Rakotoarivony spent six months writing the proposal. With feedback from Gholizadeh and numerous rounds of revisions, she crafted a competitive and polished proposal that got funded.

"Even at the early stages of her career, I believe Ny Aina possesses all the tools to be a highly impactful scholar," said Gholizadeh, noting the highly competitive nature of the FINESST grant she received. "She is one of those graduate students who you come to regard as a colleague."

Story By: Allie Putman, CAS Graduate Assistant | [email protected]

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