.The increasing frequency of Environmental Catastrophes on our planet can be attributed to landscape changes, rampant urbanization, climate change and many more factors. Remote sensing provides a lens into understanding these hazards in order to take preventive measures. Rajchandar Padmanabhan, our next pathbreaker, Geospatial Information Scientist at University of Lisbon (ISA) (Instituto Superior de Agronomia), forecasts forest fires using satellite data. Rajchandar talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy fromThe Interview Portal about firming up his vision to pursue Geo-Informatics after being introduced to a module relating to the earth, space, and the world that we see every day. For students, understanding our planet and taking corrective action is not just a career, its our obligation to future generations. Take up a career in Geo-Informatics to observe and track structural changes impacting our planet. Rajchandar, tell us about your background? I was born and raised in Kanyakumari district (Tamilnadu), in a small village called Suchindrum. My dad Mr. Padmanabhan Durairaj worked in the Tamilnadu Forest department and mom Ms. Muthulakshmi Padmanabhan worked in State Bank of India (SBI). We were a middle-class family. My dad got an early retirement at the age of 40, due to health issues. Because of the debts and other family problems we were struggling to run our family in the early stages, it was a difficult endeavour. I had an undying love for marine engineering, but wasn't sure if I wanted it as my career choice. I couldn't secure high marks in high school, so I had to choose a private college in my district. And this later paved a way to mould my career as well. What did you do for graduation/post-graduation? I pursued my Bachelor of Engineering (B.E) in Electronics and Communication from Cape Institute of Technology affiliated to Anna University, Chennai. Since my college couldn't get the proper approval for the marine engineering stream, I chose Electronics and Communication Engineering and finished the course well and fine. Then, I started a software business (Krichez Technologies) with my friend B.M Krishna after my bachelor's. We had nearly 30 people working in our company. I also pursued a Master in Business Administration (MBA) specialization in Human Resources at Madras University, Chennai in parallel. I wanted to concentrate more on my studies after completing my MBA, so I left business to my friend. I then did another master's course (M.Tech) at the Anna University of Technology, Tirunelveli in Remote Sensing. Furthermore, I chose to pursue my Ph.D. and got admission into University College London (UCL), which is 4 th in the world and 1 st inLondon (in 2013). But due to high tuition fees, I was unable to pursue the course and hence chose to pursue another master's. With proper guidance from foreign professors I opted to do another Master of Science (MS) in Geo-Informatics from the University of Muenster, Germany. Later, i finished my Ph.D
