First Recipient of University Academic Prize supported by Geoimage Announced

By Mark Covington (CEO)

At our weekly Operations meeting this week, I put a question to the team: if you had $500 to give to a cause, what would you pick? The disaster in Nepal was front of mind for many, others talked about climate action, and some said children's welfare and education was a top contender too. We discussed the importance of education, and as everyone on the Geo team has received tertiary education, it was no surprise that we all recognised its value in society. As a company, we've committed to supporting a prize to encourage high achievement in learning, So it was especially exciting when we were recently told the names of the first recipients to be awarded a prize for academic excellence at the University of Queensland in the field of Earth Observation Science. Congratulations to Dom.

Greg, our Satellite Services Manager, and I sat down with Domenico Reitano over a coffee to find out a little about Dom's life story and his aspirations for the next chapter after recently graduating from the University of Queensland (UQ) with a Bachelor's in Marine Science, specialising in oceanography, marine biology and GIS.

It turned out Dom, who served in the Royal Australian Navy and is a passionate surfer, shares a close friend in Defence with Greg, and there were plenty of stories swapped and laughter between the pair as Defence acronyms and in-house jokes flew high over my head. We did talk about other things, and here are a few snippets of our conversation:

A life at sea...

Dom: When I was young, I taught guitar and played in a few bands but knew the life journey of a muso was a tough one. So, I decided to join the Navy to get out and see the world. My role was a linguist and the Navy taught me Indonesian, so I got to see parts of South-East Asia and spent time at sea, which I enjoyed a lot.

BBQs and Che Guevara

After leaving the Navy, I travelled overseas and found myself in Argentina, where I lived for a while and learnt Spanish. Argentina is like a second home to me. The culture is great, and years later I still salivate at the thought of an Argentinian BBQ — no one cooks a steak like the Argentinians. While there, I toured Latin America, following a similar path to Che Guevara, swapping a motorcycle for buses... I value my life.

Eventually, I returned to Oz and my love of the ocean drew me to enrolling in a Bachelor's of Global Logistics and Maritime Management in Tassie. After graduating, I landed a job on the Gold Coast in maritime logistics. On paper this should have been perfect, but the reality was very different — work was extremely stressful with little reward for the effort, and there was a huge social sacrifice of being constantly on-call.

I discovered that UQ is well respected for its marine science work, so I returned to the books, and here we are today.

Advice for other students?

Dom: Go to class and talk to lecturers and tutors in-person, and do the work that is set. It's important to invest the time needed to learn.

Gen AI and its use in study

Mark: You said, “(you) do the work that is set”. I sense there's a cautionary tale about becoming over-reliant on Gen AI?

Dom: In the beginning, it was easy to use Gen AI to write code, but I found I wasn't really learning and didn't understand the finished code. So, I decided to put the effort into learning how to code, and only used Gen AI to write parts I couldn't have learnt myself.

What's next?

Dom: I am deeply interested in coastal erosion and am looking for a role that will enable me to combine my passion for the ocean with my remote sensing skills.

Dom is actively looking for a role in geospatial, If you would like to contact him, please reach out to him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dareitano