Integrating Professional Drone Technology Into University Teaching, Training and Research
When Dr. Narcisa Pricope, a professor at the UNC-Wilmington set out to integrate drone technology into teaching, training, and research, she uncovered a variety of academic and professional uses for the innovative technology.
Dr. Pricope uses senseFly’s eBee Plus RTK/PPK drone to develop a variety of applied research projects and map environments with complex vegetation structures and highly-dynamic barrier islands where small topographic variations can mean big changes in the structure and functionality of the ecosystems.
The high versatility of the eBee and its sensors allowed Dr. Pricope to create interdisciplinary collaborations with biologists to establish the influence of beach temperature variations on bird nesting success. Internationally, the team engaged in teaching and research with the National Agrarian University - La Molina in Peru to collect valuable data and assess the condition of high-elevation grazing lands for livestock; proper management of these lands for maintaining food security is a matter of national importance in Peru.