Students from animal studies degree programs and from engineering degree programs have teamed up to advance the capabilities in Namibia of observing wildlife through the use of unmanned aerial systems (drones). The aerial observations assist with the study of wild animals and their protection. One of the technology goals of the program is to set up an autonomous WAO from vehicle take-off/land to data streaming and patching: to bring Namibian wildlife to computers anywhere. Other goals relate to the study of the magnificent animals and their security. The below video was produced by Alli Schumacher, one of the study-abroad students. See full story here.
The faculty instructors were Dr. Larry M. Silverberg (program director), Dr. Werner Dorgeloh, and and Dr. Jenny Campbell. The Fall 2017 students were Hussain Arif, Kennedy Brinson, Jon Dvorak, Joel Forsyth, Josh Glazer, Jacob Keller, Graham Lutz (Assistant on-site coordinator), James Ploss, Allison Schumacher, Nicholas Skahill (Assistant on-site coordinator, MS candidate), Leena Vo, Joseph Manning (Lead assistant on-site coordinator, PhD candidate), and the NC State Study-Abroad Coordinator is Mr. Keven Feeney.
If you are a student interested in participating in The Namibia WAO Project, contact Dr. Larry M. Silverberg at lmsilver@ncsu.edu.