Use of Drones in Wildlife Detection in Forestry

Friday, October 27, 2023

3:00pm - 4:00pm PST

Location: Expo Hall

Poster Presenter(s)

DK

David L. Kulhavy, PhD

Professor
Stephen F. Austin State University
Nacogdoches, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

DU

Daniel R. Unger, PhD

Professor
Stephen F. Austin State University
Nacogdoches, Texas, United States
I-Kuai Hung, PhD

Professor
Stephen F. Austin State University
Nacogdoches, Texas, United States
YZ

Yanli Zhang, PhD (he/him/his)

Professor
Stephen F Austin State University
Nacogdoches, Texas, United States

Drones were used to track animal tracks and forest animals to develop a Citizen Science data base for iNaturalist. iNaturalist is the largest data source for plants and animals on the web and very few entries are from drones. Drones have an advantage of adding nadir or images directly above.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of the project, wildlife viewers will be proficient in the use of drones to capture wildlife images for the web and for iNaturalist. The drone uses will be trained in the FAA 107 UAS Pilot exam and apply for the FAA 107 license for drone use.
Upon completion of the project, participants will have a greater understanding of the complexity of wildlife in habitats and increased identification of wildlife in forested environments. Increased drone efficiency will translate into increase observations and knowledge of the ecology of the observed wildlife.