Drones in Marine Biology, Ecology, and Conservation

Lecture-based version of Environment 335LA. Includes a full overview of past and emerging applications for ecology and biology of marine species and coastal habitats, with in-depth discussion on future of drone applications in coastal biological and ecological research. Comprehensive exploration of current drone technologies, including detection of target species, payloads, aeronautical concepts, rules and regulations, mission planning, aircraft design, maintenance, data collection, management and analysis. Lab components tailored to student interests: active participation in megafaunal or environmental research and data analysis; building, operating and maintaining aircraft, programming for manual and autonomous flight. Taught in Beaufort at Duke Marine Lab.