Interview with Kara Sanford Women in Hydrography

As part of our Women In Hydrography program, QPS has again partnered with Dr. Ian Church at the University of New Brunswick to send a selected female student to the Canadian Hydrographic Conference in Quebec City. This year’s sponsored student is Kara Sanford, a 3rd year student enrolled in the Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering program at UNB.

QPS asked here a couple of questions:

What is your favorite thing about the industry, i.e. what prompted you to pursue the study in ocean mapping?

Before attending UNB I didn’t know anything about the ocean mapping industry. I’ve always been curious to know what lies below the ocean’s surface but never knew I could make a career out of it. I think my favourite thing about this industry is that everyone in it shares the same passion for it and are working together to achieve a set of common goals.

What advice might you have for someone looking to go into this industry?

I think my strongest piece of advice would be to network, network, and network! You can learn so much from professionals in this industry and gather great insight and advice. Creating valuable connections is important in this industry as you will cross paths with the same people many times. Individuals in this industry know it very well, so don’t feel intimidated by the amount of knowledge out there; ask lots of questions!

Great advice, and thanks Kara for spending the time with us! We would also like to thank Dr. Ian Church from the University of New Brunswick for his participation in this program.