NEWS
The Battalion I 2.27.15
4
PROVIDED
Michael Starek holds
the SenseFly eBee,
a fixed wing platform
that acts like a
miniature plane.
First to fly
A&M-Corpus Christi
granted first drone
permit for crop research
By Lenae Allen
The Texas A&M Univer
sity Agrilife Research and
Extension Center in Corpus
Christi was granted the first
Certificate of Authorization
permit to use drones, also called
unmanned aerial vehicles or
UAVs, to conduct agricultural
research on crops.
With the permit from the
Federal Aviation Administra
tion, the Agrilife Extension of
fice at Corpus Christi plans to
research how quantities of nu
trients, irrigation and drought
and diseases affect crops in real
time.
Juan A. Landivar, resident
director of the Corpus Christi
Agrilife Extension office, said
the FAA finally granted autho
rization nearly a year after they
applied for it.
The UAV used, called a
SenseFly eBee, is a fixed wing
platform that acts like a minia
ture plane. The drone is com
posed of a flexible plastic mate
rial. The two cameras used to
gather images and information
are a normal red-green-blue
camera for images, Corpus
Christi Agrilife Extension has
also submitted paperwork ap
plying for a helicopter-type
drone permit.
The goal for using drones in
agriculture is to ultimately im
prove crop yields and livestock
management by integrating ag
riculture with precision data
bases and remote sensors on the
drones.
Michael Starek, the research’s
specialist on Geographic Infor
mation Science and Geospatial
Surveying Engineering, is using
gathered data to see how the
sensors on the drone process
information.
“The idea is really to look at
the potential of the technology.
We want to look at the flight
design, what wind does when
you fly and how does that af
fects the data accuracy that you
get,” Starek said. “We’re trying
to figure out the most efficient
ways to collect this data and
process it. Ultimately we want
to progress the potential of this
technology for the end users —
agriculturalists and farmers.”
There are two types of cam
eras mounted onto the UAV
itself, and from the images
collected researchers are able
to determine either geospa
tial imaging or near-infrared
wavelengths. From this data,
researchers are able to not
only monitor growth of crops
in a 2-dimensional image, but
V
"The idea is really
to look at the
potential of the
technology. We
want to look at the
flight design, what
wind does when
you fly, and how
does that affects
the data accuracy
that you get."
Michael Starek, research specialist
3-dimensional imaging as well.
Near-infrared imaging can indi
cate which plants are not faring
as well as others. .
The main crop in consider
ation with this research is cot
ton, and the main problem of
the cotton industry is root-rot.
“Remote sensing has proven
to be very useful in identifying
field areas where the crop is
stricken with this disease,” said
Alex Thomasson, engineering
professor. “Once those areas
have been identified, an effec
tive fungicide that has recently
been approved for use by EPA
can be applied in subsequent
years in only those areas, greatly
reducing overall cost and mini
mizing environmental risk.”
Plans to eventually use soft
ware on drones to determine
things such as phenotyping
in crops and rangeland forage
density are underway. Other
crops that the Agrilife Exten
sion hopes to work with in
clude citrus orchards, in order
to study the effects of a disease
called citrus greening, and veg
etable crops.
“I think the real advantage
is ultimately farmers can go
out and get the data when they
need it,” Starek said. “One day
I imagine there will be swarms
of these things. The farmer can
just go out in the morning and
fly before they’re about to wa
ter their thousands of acres of
crops, or know where to drop
insecticide. They’ll be able to
say, do this area and not this
area. It will really increase ef
ficiency.”
INDUSTRY
Representatives from engineering companies answer questions
from students at the forum discussion following the Civil
Engineering Professional Day.
Engineering
students learn
state of career field
By Teja Kondapalli
Ns. Students filled rooms to capacity, some standing in the
aisles, to hear several prominent civil engineering ex
perts discuss the state of the industry Thursday at the Civil
Engineering Professional Day.
Experts spoke to how the civil engineering profession
has developed, expected trends for the near future, and
what companies expect of fresh graduates.
Robin Autenrieth, the department head of the civil en
gineering department, said the event began as a way to give
students a way to hear from engineering practitioners.
“Professional’s Day started several years ago in the de
partment and it has proven to be an excellent opportunity
to bring practitioners on to campus and to give our stu
dents’ exposure to the different areas of civil engineering,”
Autenrieth said.
Speakers represented each specialization area in the civil
engineering department, such as construction, structural
and geotechnical engineering technology first impacted
civil engineering design, but now is present in three di
mensional modelling, simulations, and structural analysis.
MORE AT TX.AG/BATT3
ACADEMICS
Provost Karan Watson speaks at the
Vision 2020 forum.
Forum fields
opinion on
Vision 2020
Faculty retention discussed at meeting
By Trey Reeves
The Office of the Provost, Faculty Senate and
Council of Principal Investigators co-hosted
the second of four scheduled forums Thursday
discussing the university’s internal and external
strengths and weaknesses.
The series, open to all faculty and staff, focuses
on receiving input from all colleges and divi
sions in preparation for the university’s final push
toward its lofty Vision 2020 goals. Thursday’s
meeting consisted of university employees voic
ing their concerns to Provost and Executive Vice
President Karan Watson.
To open the meeting, Watson addressed one of
the major concerns — research expenditures and
their impact on the general student body.
“We are a university. We are not a research
institution,” Watson said. “When you look at the
plans, you have to realize that we can’t stop being
us. We are going to have to focus on where to
use resources because we don’t have an infinite
amount.”
That lack of infinite resources might not seem
troubling to an institution that has an endowment
of more than $850 million, but Watson said hav
ing a large amount of money at the disposal does
not condone irresponsibility.
“We tend to have it in our minds that we are
strategically throwing out everything on our wish
list and getting done everything we possibly can,”
Watson said. “That’s not strategic planning. Stra
tegic planning is just as much about strategically
deciding what we can’t do right now.”
Some in attendance, like Engineering Tech
nology department head Jorge Alvarado, had
their own issues to bring to light. Alvarado said
that he hoped students choosing Texas A&M for
their doctoral studies would not be neglected or
overshadowed.
“I think what we need in the end is a com
prehensive plan. We want good student to apply
and come to A&M, and once they do, we want
to make sure they have the resources to succeed,”
Alvarado said.
Michael Arnold, associate department head of
horticultural sciences, said officials should make
an effort to hire and keep younger professors and
staff in the prime of their careers.
“When I sit in faculty meetings I see a lot of
people with gray hair like me,” Arnold said. “We
haven’t hired as many professorial candidates in
recent years, and I think if we’re going to reach
some of these objectives, we’re going to have to
do it on the backs of some rising stars. We need
new, younger faculty in the ranks.”
Faculty retention has been a hot topic at recent
meetings, and Watson addressed some of these
concerns, saying that while some ideas look great
in individual areas, they don’t always help the big
picture of the university as a whole.
“What we don’t always discern well is there
are always opportunities to hire new faculty, but
is it netting us more than it was before?” Watson
said. “We don’t want to put faculty members in
the situation where they feel like they have to go
get another offer, and we don’t want to play the
game with those that are going to do it over and
over again.”
The last two meetings will be held on March
13 and April 1 in Rudder 601.
EATING DISORDER
CONTINUED
women — specifically younger
ones — engage in social comparison
from these images. They internalize
impossible or improbable beauty
ideals commonly seen in media
and become dissatisfied when they
can't achieve them, leading to psy
chological or behavioral symptoms
related to eating disorders.
Elisa McNeill, a health educa
tion instructor, said the largest is
sue all eating disorders are centered
around is a need to have a sense of
control.
“A lot of times, things are spiral
ing out of control and they truly
believe that there is not a lot they
can do about it, but they do have
the ability to control their food in
take,” McNeill said.
McNeill said in some cases the
praise that those with disorders re
ceive after losing weight can con
tribute to further reirfforcement of
behavior.
“They say, ’Well hey, I can get
this reinforcement again,’” Mc
Neill said. “You see this pattern
kind of spiral around itself and then
they spiral down further. ”
McNeill said common disorders
include anorexia nervosa and bu
limia.
“You also have what is called
physical activity bulimia where the
food isn’t the issue but overexercise
is the issue,” McNeill said.
Both Ramasubramanian and
McNeill advocate media literacy as
a way to combat negative body im
age pressures from the media.
“It boils down to being a literacy
issue when you look at an ad, or
you look at a piece of propaganda
to sit and analyze,” McNeill said.
“Where is the source? Who is
funding that? What is the message
that they’re portraying? Whose best
interest is it in the end?”
Ramasubramanian said the pub
lic needs to realize that much of
media is driven by the consumer
industry. Ramasubramanian said
media consumers must reflect on
V
"It boils down to
being a literacy issue
when you look at an
ad, or you look at a
piece of propaganda
to sit and analyze."
Elisa McNeill,
health education instructor
who is shaping these messages.
“There is a ‘fantasization’ in the
mind of men of beauty also creating
these images,” Ramasubramanian
said. “Now, it’s the curvaceously
thin body type like the Lara Croft
type of body.”
Ramasubramanian said this hy-
per-sexualized, unrealistic standard
of beauty is part of a cultural, sys
temic problem rather than a series
of isolated incidents.
“There is an entire genre of
media that celebrates thinness and
punishes those that are considered
‘fat,’” Ramasubramanian said.
Both Ramasubramanian and
McNeill believe education across
many scales are integral in com
batting both negative body issues
and spreading awareness of eat
ing disorders. McNeill said in the
field of health education, the idea
of approaching health issues with
a multi-layered focus is called ‘the
social ecological model.’
Meghan Windham, a dietician at
Texas A&M, specializes in adoles
cents with eating disorders, and said
the first step is noticing something
is wrong.
“The first step is just saying
‘Something doesn’t feel right and
this is a concern to me,’ and that’s
a huge first step for most people,”
Windham said.
Windham emphasized the op
portunities available for students
on campus.
“We have what we call an eating
disorder interdisciplinary team and
we work very closely, myself and
one physician here and then the
counseling center,” Windham said.
Windham said for most patients,
admittance and trusting the help
of medical professionals can be the
two most difficult steps.
“There’s that, ‘There is no dumb
question,’ and there’s no one symp
tom for eating patterns that most
professionals who have worked in
this field haven’t seen,” Windham
said. “So don’t be fearful or afraid
to seek that guidance.”