| Abstract Detail
Teaching Section Nagchaudhuri, Abhijit [1], Mitra, Madhumi [2], Marsh, Lurline [3], Daughtry, Craig [4]. Botanists, Engineers, Agronomists, and Environmental Scientists Collaborate to Develop a Course in Precision Agriculture for STEM Majors at UMES. A course titled “Advanced Technologies in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences” is being offered for the first time at University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in spring of 2007. The course was conceived to develop a broader student base for the “Precision Agriculture” related activities that have been ongoing at UMES for the past few years with support from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Maryland Space Grant Consortium (MDSGC), and as such has been opened to all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) seniors and graduate students on campus. In an effort to diffuse the compartmentalization of knowledge and rigid disciplinary boundaries within academia, the course has been designed to be a multi-instructor course. Faculty and staff from Agriculture, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Aviation Sciences, and collaborators from USDA, NASA, and representatives from a local industry involved in “Precision Farming” have worked together to plan and deliver the course. The course content spans over fundamentals of global positioning systems (GPS), yield monitoring, soil testing, variable rate applicators, fundamentals of plant physiology and agronomy, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), statistics and data analysis, aerial imaging and remote sensing, nutrient and watershed management. Significant field work using various field sensors including multiparameter YSI unit, chlorophyll meter, pH meter, instrument to measure leaf area index (LAI) in conjunction with hand held GPS units is integrated with the course. Funds from USDA will cover at least four summer interns who will be selected from the course participants till 2009 summer to continue experiential learning and research activities initiated during the course during the summer months.
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1 - University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Engineering and Aviation Sciences, Tanner Hall 1111, 1, Backbone Road, Princess Anne, MD, 21853, USA
2 - University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Natural Sciences, Backbone Road, Princess Anne, Maryland, 21853, USA
3 - University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Agriculture, 1107 Trigg Hall, 1, Backbone Road, Princess Anne, MD, 21853, USA
4 - United States Department of Agriculture, Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, 104 Bld., 007, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA
Keywords:
Agriculture
Environmental Science
STEM.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P60002
Abstract ID:1461 |
