Carmen Anthonj is an Assistant Professor of GeoHealth at ITC's department of Earth Observation Science.
Before joining ITC you worked in the United States as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Global Health. Getting started in the Netherlands, did you experience culture shock at all?
"Well, working in a Central European environment again certainly required some adjusting. Working conditions are very different to what I had been used to in the States. There, I felt more pressure in terms of productivity and output, and also more of a sense of competition, which for me is hard to deal with as I love to collaborate. I felt like this affected the quality of my work and limited opportunities to grow, while getting in the way of my enthusiasm."
How do you like the opportunities to grow at ITC?
"What I really like is how there is support for development on many different levels. When it comes to research, I have a lot of freedom in strategizing on water security, WASH and global health issues, and pushing the agenda I find most relevant in GeoHealth. In addition, there is an entire army of support staff helping me in aiming for the grants that I would like to get. The GeoHealth team that I am part of is developing education in a domain that is still rather new to ITC. I see my contribution to creating something pretty much from scratch as a once in a lifetime opportunity. ITC also encourages us to take part in professional development workshops and other initiatives to help us grow. For instance, I am currently attending a workshop in Influential Coaching and Effective Management. Which is good, because leadership is a skill I would like to improve [laughs]. I also really appreciate the way in which the marketing and communications staff helps us to bridge the science-society gap by making our work accessible to non-academic audiences as well, thus making our GeoHealth team efforts and my own line of research more visible. Increasing exposure of my work means increasing the societal impact it can have and the likelihood to acquire more funding. Furthermore, by making students aware of what I'm doing, we can attract the GeoHealth and water and health workforce of the future."
Do you get to integrate your previous activities into your work at ITC?
"Most certainly. Before joining ITC, I won a grant by the German Academic Exchange Service for teaching Medical Geography at an Ethiopian university for six months. The position has not materialized yet due to COVID-19 and the current political situation in Ethiopia, but ITC never saw my possibly going abroad for half a year as a problem. In fact, the opposite was the case, it was applauded and supported as an exciting prospect for me, and as I have been told multiple times, "what is good for me is good for GeoHealth at ITC". The same applies to a consulting project on the impact of COVID-19 on water utilities in Latin America that I implemented for the World Bank Global Water Practice since I started working here. As it was closely aligned with my line of research on water security, WASH and global health, this was seen as a great opportunity for me. At ITC, all levers were set in motion to support me in simply building this project into my work."
How does being a tenure tracker suit you?
"I like to be a tenure tracker, and particularly having a say in where we're going with this system. We are currently in the process of revising and modernizing the policy that surrounds the tenure track. What I really like about that is that we are exchanging the expectation for everybody to be excellent at everything – research, education, capacity building, service – for a more personalized career path where we can focus a bit more on the component that is closest to our hearts."
What are your expectations in terms of your personal talent management at ITC?
"You know, I have a bit of a hard time with the word "management"; I don’t actually know what it is supposed to mean or entail. To me it's about empowerment. At ITC I feel empowered in creating opportunities for pushing the topics and the work that are close to my heart forward. I came here with a background in Medical Geography, worked in Global Public Health and Hygiene, and bring a more social sciences-based skillset that's not as per usual for the rather technical department of Earth Observation Science that I am part of. When joining I was a bit anxious about whether my expertise would really fit. I have already learned that a bit of a colourful interdisciplinary background indeed adds value and I really like how this is being perceived at different levels, also among other tenure trackers. I'm not sure if we're talking about me as a talent here, but I'm very pleased to see that this seems to be working out quite well."