In July 2026, Hannah Kemper, a PhD student in the Urban Remote Sensing Research Group (Jun.-Prof. Valerie Graw), presented her research at the Congress of the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada. The ISPRS was founded in Austria in 1910, comprises six technical commissions and brings together over 90 national institutes.

The conference was held under the theme ‘From Imagery to Understanding’ and bridged the gap between science and practice. Alongside academic presentations, numerous private companies and national institutions showcased their work at an accompanying exhibition. In particular, the activities of the STEP (Students and Early Professionals) Initiative offered young researchers valuable opportunities for exchange. More than 2,500 participants travelled to Toronto from countries including Australia, Brazil, India and China to attend the ISPRS Congress. The programme of sessions and keynote speeches was extremely diverse, ranging from traditional surveying issues to artificial intelligence (AI) for sustainability and the protection of elephants in Zambia.

Hannah Kemper presented her field research in central Tanzania, which generated keen interest from the audience and received consistently positive feedback. Her paper, entitled ‘Using the Soil Brightness Indicator to inform Participatory Community Planning for SDG2 Projects – a case study in Dodoma, Tanzania’, will be published in the ISPRS Annals and is the first paper for her PhD project, which focuses on the use of satellite imagery in the context of land rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa. With plenty of new input and inspiration, Hannah returns home. The next congress will take place in four years’ time in Incheon, Korea. Until then, many new ideas and insights are sure to emerge.