Drone use for Women Advancement, Visibility & Experiences in Food & Agriculture Cyberinformatics & Tools Oriented to Research

Project Director: Dr. Humberto Perotto

The Drone WAVE FACTOR Program (DWFP) is an integrated program that includes education, research, and extension. The main goal of the DWFP is to recruit, train, mentor, and graduate the next generation of women professionals with competitive geospatial sciences and technology skills and increase workforce diversity in agricultural and natural resources. We will implement hands-on training in geospatial sciences to support research experiences and to boost professional opportunities to women undergraduate students to gain a competitive edge in the professional marketplace. We are planning the following activities: training in GIS and remote sensing, preparation for the FAA drone pilot exam, UAS training, development of individual research projects, a Texas Geospatial Tour, internship experience, participation in professional meetings, monthly research/development meetings, and development of professional social media skills. The DWFP will recruit outstanding and motivated students from the Departments of Range and Wildlife Sciences and Animal Science at TAMUK. Because women students are underrepresented in agriculture and natural resources, we will focus our recruitment on Hispanic women. To participate in this program, students will need to meet the following requirements: sophomore, junior, or senior classification at the start of the program, GPA > 3.0, and full-time status (12 credit hours for each long semester). The outcome measures were selected based on

the DWFP objectives and are well aligned with the objectives of the AFRI Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences Education and Literacy Initiative Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates and the Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics and Tools Act initiative.