This year's Kentucky GIS conference saw a huge turnout from Kentucky State University. The Kentucky Association of Mapping Professionals (KAMP) hosted its 2022 conference in Lexington.
The first day of the conference offered various hands-on workshops aimed at students and young professionals with the subsequent days being dominated by presentations on various elements of GIS, mapping, and remote sensing. With a large number of professionals and academics in attendance, the conference provided a wonderful opportunity for networking.
Kentucky State students, staff and faculty presented on their GIS-related projects and research at the conference:
Malik Thomson talked about the examination of the normalized difference vegetation index and its relationship with land use in three Eastern Kentucky watersheds.
Kabita Paudel presented on the evaluation of ground cover success at reclaimed mine sites in Kentucky's Lower Levisa watershed using Lidar data.
Suraj KC presented his research on potential areas for revegetation in Pike County, Kentucky.
Whitney Tara Maynard gave a presentation on the examination of reclaimed surface mined land cover.
Research and extension staff Jeremy Sandifer, STEM coordinator in the College of Agriculture, Community and the Sciences, and Drone Pilot William Rogers discussed how drones can be used for research and extension.
Interim Research and Extension Associate Cynthia Rice's talk centered on getting high school students interested in geospatial data.
Andy Ong, Cooperative Extension Office and Facilities Manager, discussed how he is using Lidar and drones to maintain the Co-op Building on campus.
Another presentation by Sandifer, Visiting Professor Dr. Demetrio Zourarakis, Dr. Buddhi Gyawali, professor of Geospatial Applications, Human Dimensions, and Climate Studies and program coordinator for the Master of Science in Environmental Studies Program, and Senior Research Associate Jody Thomson discussed the classification of forestry management zones using aerial lidar and open-source data.
Sandifer, Gyawali, and Zourarakis also presented 2-D and 3-D depictions of a forest structure using data fusion.
Dr. Gyawali was awarded for his outstanding contribution to the Kentucky GIS and Mapping Community at the conference. KAMP also awarded graduate scholarships to graduate students Kabita Paudel and Suraj KC based on their previous and current work in the GIS and remote sensing fields.
Categories: Kentucky, Education