U-063 - Undergraduate Field Education Course
PI: Dr. Beth Pratt-Sitaula
Project Lead: Chris Crosby
Funding Source:
Location: Boulder, CO
Dates: 2017-08-15 to 2017-08-18
Project Summary
Fieldwork is an integral part of the geosciences and there is a longstanding tradition of teaching field methods as part of the undergraduate curriculum. As geoscience research technologies have grown, there is more interest in introducing geodetic methods into field education courses. Technology integration into field education has several advantages, including student engagement and workforce development. This short course has been developed in response to community interest and input (e.g., Field Education and Support by the UNAVCO GAGE Facility workshop) and builds on successful pioneering efforts of UNAVCO community members. The goal of this workshop is to equip instructors of geoscience field courses with the knowledge and skills needed to integrate analysis of high-resolution topography into their courses. Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and ground-based platforms, participants will learn practical approaches for teaching structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Georeferencing will be done with kinematic GPS. The teaching resources that will be featured can be previewed at the GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues (GETSI) website. Featured geoscience applications include stratigraphic analysis for road cut engineering and parasequences, fault scarp analysis, and geomorphic change detection. We will also use this workshop as an opportunity to discuss best practices, learn about other uses of these technologies in field education, and to identify needs and recommendations for facility support of geodesy in field education.