For my project I compared data from the TRMM Satellite
mission with a series of updates produced by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organizations on the proliferation of swarms of desert locusts in
Saharan Africa. Desert locusts are often
harmless insects but when rain permits they can form large swarms that can devastate
agricultural production in the area. If
we can correlate satellite precipitation results with locust swarm behavior we
could begin to create an early warning system that would help humans and these
insects coexist less destructively.
My interest in the project grew from a drive to help humans
understand the natural world around them and coexist within it
sustainably. I am studying Earth Science
and Environmental Engineering so that I can apply scientific and technological
know-how to improving the health of our planet.
Pest control is a complex topic that sometimes pits human agricultural
goals against the overall health of biodiversity. Better predictability of overwhelming pest
outbreaks could help us to prevent both the loss of agricultural production and
the swath of pesticide use that follows a highly migrant swarm of a harmful
pest. The applications of an early
warning system could do a lot to bring this human/insect interaction into a
greater harmony.
Much of my daily work involves reading very large files of
data and turning them into readable useable files that convey usable
information to not expert individuals.
It is a very computer intensive process but if connections can be drawn
then on the ground fieldwork will stem from it.
Remote sensing for environmental engineering has large-scale potential
applications that are just now in their peak of development given the rise of
satellite technology in our information age.
