The Oconee Rivers Audubon Society will launch its 2013-14 season with a presentation on the use of remote-control airborne cameras – drones – to map critical habitats at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 4, at Sandy Creek Nature Center. Thomas R. Jordan, associate director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Geospatial Research, will provide a detailed description of aerial drones, how they work and how they can be used in mapping and in other geography applications. Jordan is a leader in UGA’s Center for Geospatial Research, which promotes the application of geospatial technology in interdisciplinary research, education and public service. The center, part of the Department of Geography in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, specializes in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and other technologies that can be used in ecology, forestry, geography, geology and hydrology. The center recently completed the most detailed orthophoto and LiDAR (laser) mapping ever conducted for Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee and is now mapping vegetation in eight additional National Parks in the Southeast.
Speaker: Thomas Jordan
The meeting will be held in the Nature Center’s expanded Education and Visitor Center, 205 Old Commerce Road off U.S. Highway 441 north of Athens. To reach the center from the Loop 10 bypass, exit at U.S. Highway 441/Commerce Road and turn north toward Commerce. Go approximately a mile, turn left at the Sandy Creek Nature Center sign and go to the end of the road. Turn left at Old Commerce Road; parking for the Education and Visitor Center will be on the right.
For more information, visit www.oconeeriversaudubon.org,
or contact Audubon chapter President Richard Hall at president@oconeeriversaudubon.org
or Publicity Chair Roger Nielsen at publicity@oconeeriversaudubon.org.
The Oconee Rivers Audubon Society is a nonprofit organization of people brought together by a love of birds and nature. We strive to promote conservation and provide a voice for environmental issues, we organize several local conservation projects each year, and we host public presentations on subjects related to birds, nature, and conservation at our monthly meetings. Audubon meets at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month at Sandy Creek Nature Center. Please check our news and events pages to learn about upcoming activities.