UNews - Derek Peddle

Undergraduate student success highlights ATIC awards at national symposium

trevor.kenney — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 19:48:35 +0000

Undergraduate student Jason Beaver claimed the Best Student Oral Presentation Award as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre (ATIC) was prominent at the 37th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, held recently in Winnipeg.

Both undergraduate students and senior faculty members attended the annual conference as ATIC continued to build on its legacy as a national leader in the science of remote sensing.

U of L student Jason Beaver, right, accepts his award at the at the 37th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing.

“Over the years, the research work of ATIC faculty members and students has been recognized with various awards and our group has earned its reputation as a leader both nationally and beyond,” says Dr. Derek Peddle, geography professor and ATIC co-director. “Jason’s award this year is especially noteworthy because I believe it is the first time an undergraduate student has won first place in this category.”

Beaver’s award-winning presentation, BRDF Effects on Vegetation Indices and Leaf Area Index Derivations in Agricultural Crops, was part of the Agricultural Applications in Remote Sensing Session. Student presentations covered many topics, and almost all involved masters or PhD level students from across the country. Graduate students from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia and Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Ottawa) placed second and third respectively.

“There’s no undergraduate award category, but we work at the highest levels and Jason’s presentation reflected that in the results that he achieved and his ability to deliver it effectively,” says Dr. Craig Coburn, geography professor and Beaver’s undergraduate honours thesis supervisor. “Supported by the NSERC CREATE AMETHYST program, Jason is one of our first students in the new BSc in Remote Sensing degree program.”

Beaver’s presentation explored new ways to use remote sensing in agriculture. The study assessed wheat and peas at different times in the growing season, deriving improved information on plant health, growth status and ultimately yield. Conducted in collaboration with Dr. Anne Smith at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, this research used the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Goniometer System (ULGS-II) that allows measurements at different angles. The ULGS-II was designed and built by Coburn and Dr. Scott D. Noble (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan) and is widely recognized as one of the best in the world. A wheat field can look different if you look at it from different locations or angles – the same is true for remote sensing instruments on drones, airplanes or satellites. The ULGS-II allowed Beaver to test this extensively and discover optimal measurement approaches. This allows recommendations on best practices in agricultural remote sensing in terms of time of day for measurement, angle of sensing and also how these vary throughout the growing season. The results are important in ensuring the best possible agriculture information can be obtained from seeding to harvest time, and is intended to benefit farmers and how they monitor crops.

In addition to Beaver’s honour, Peddle was awarded the 2016 Canadian Remote Sensing Society Silver Medal, recognizing excellence in mid-career achievement in remote sensing in Canada.

ATIC’s presence at the conference was not limited to individual awards. Four faculty members from ATIC, along with students ranging from undergraduate to PhD levels and post-doctoral researchers, also offered presentations. In total, ATIC personnel gave 12 presentations involving 12 student and staff researchers as co-authors with ATIC faculty. ATIC personnel also organized a total of five special sessions, ranging in topics from Agriculture and Wetlands in Alberta, to LiDAR technology and GeoSpatial Education.

“This year’s outcomes continue what’s become a legacy of prestigious awards to ATIC personnel and students,” says Peddle. “These results further illustrate the strong leadership profile ATIC has earned in the remote sensing community.”

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge geography/ATIC researchers receive multiple awards at national remote sensing conference

trevor.kenney — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 17:35:47 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was front and centre at the 36th Annual Canadian Remote Sensing Society’s (CRSS-SCT) national symposium held recently in St. John’s Nfld.

Three U of L faculty members from the Department of Geography earned awards at the symposium, while a number of presentations from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students, post-doctoral fellows and professors showcased the outstanding work being conducted on campus, furthering the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s reputation as a national leader in the field of remote sensing.

“It is always wonderful to see our colleagues be recognized like this on the national and international stage. It brings further profile to the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre (ATIC) and the Department of Geography from which the three award recipients are affiliated," says Dr. Derek Peddle, professor of geography and co-director of ATIC.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ adjunct professor of geography Dr. Ron Hall (Canadian Forest Service, NRCan - Edmonton) earned recognition as the 2015 winner of the Val Shaw Memorial Award for his exceptional contribution in the use of remote sensing for natural resources management.

Over his career, Hall has made significant contributions to the use of aerial and satellite optical and LiDAR remote sensing in mapping and monitoring forest defoliation, harvesting and fire disturbances, vegetation inventory and biomass estimation as well as to the EOSD land cover classification project. He has also made significant contributions to training students.

The Val Shaw Memorial Award was established in 1990 in memory of Valerie Shaw, an executive with the Bercha Group and a strong proponent of remote sensing in Canada. The award consists of a certificate that recognizes lifelong achievement in practical remote sensing applied to natural resource management.

The U of L’s Dr. Laura Chasmer also received a major award. An adjunct professor in geography and an Alberta Innovates Research Fellow in Dr. Chris Hopkinson’s Artemis lab, Chasmer earned the 2015 CRSS-SCT Bronze Medal for her outstanding research productivity and early-career achievements.

The CRSS-SCT Bronze Medal Award was established in 2009 as an early-career achievement award to recognize emerging excellence in remote sensing in Canada.

Chasmer is a highly productive scientist integrating LiDAR and passive optical remote sensing in multiple research areas that include climatology, meteorology, ecosystem change, hydrology, northern studies and forest attribute estimation. To date, she has over 30 peer-reviewed publications in international journals, more than 75 conference proceedings papers and presentations, and has served on nine graduate student committees.

The third major honour involving the U of L went to Dr. Ravinder Virk, an instructor in the Department of Geography, who teamed with Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Scott Mitchell to produce the second best paper in the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing Best Paper Awards category. Their paper was entitled, “Effect of different grazing intensities on the spatial-temporal variability in above-ground live plant biomass in North American mixed grasslands".

The four-day conference also featured a number of special sessions, oral and poster presentations, a leadership forum, exhibitors, a feature session on the job market in remote sensing as well as a full-day summer school for students, and keynote addresses from Nalcor, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Urthecast, and NASA. The U of L presented in a number of these sessions and was prominent throughout the symposium.

A special issue of the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing will be published in relationship to the symposium. The 37th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing will be held June 7-9, 2016 in Winnipeg.

For more information about ATIC and the Canadian Remote Sensing Society (including the above awards), visit the ATIC and CRSS-SCT websites respectively.

Honouring long service

trevor.kenney — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:24:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ held its annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony recently, honouring 116 employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service. A total of 23 retiring employees were also honoured.

Following is a list of honoured employees.

RETIREES

Art Aitken, Dayna Daniels, Richard Epp, Rex Forsyth, Eldon Gardner, Wolfgang Holzmann, Bill Hudgins, Joan Kendall, Leslie Lavers, Lucie Linhart, Gerald McConaghy, Linda McLeod, Ken Nicol, Seamus O'Shea, Doug Parker, Ramrattie Ramtej, Donna Seyed Mahmoud, Ches Skinner, Philippe Teillet, Linda Van Esch, Wendy Vogel, Nick Wade and Ian Wells

LONG SERVICE RECIPIENTS

40 Years | Maria Draper

35 Years | Chris Charles, Bryan Kolb, Peter McCormick and Gerda VanderFluit

30 Years | Jane Allan, Cheryl Calver, Dayna Daniels, Gayle Durand, Rex Forsyth, Laurel Hamilton, Jay Johnston, Linda Kucheran, Greg Martin, David Naylor, Shari Platt and Leanne Wehlage-Ellis

25 Years | Shamsul Alam, Lana Barton, Bryson Brown, Cathy Campbell, Patricia Chuchryk, Leslie Gatner, Allan Gergel, Nancy Grigg, Tyler Hayward, Mary Anne Hellinga, Wolfgang Holzmann, Bill Hudgins, Margaret Joblonkay, Kas Mazurek, Alice Miller, Richard Mrazek, Thomas Robinson, Doug Ross, Jadranka Smiljanec, Brian Sullivan, Richard Tedesco, David Townsend, Sandy Wiest and Joan Zimmer

20 Years | Patti-Jo Aiken, Linda Anderson, Roberto Aragon-Garcia, Jochen Bocksnick, Carl Budny, James Byrne, Peter Dibble, Deborah Grant, Bill Halma, Andrew Hurly, Janet Macdonald, Karen McCallum, Louise Miller, Al Mueller, Claudia Notzke, Sergio Pellis, Dwayne Pepin, Vern Peterson, Maria Quinteros, Kathy Schrage, Colleen Sullivan, Brian Titley, Donna Townley and Mark Walton

15 Years | Doug Berry, James Dobbie, Jackie Edwards, Lance Grigg,
Michelle Hogue, Marie Matkin, Ian McAdam, Gerald McConaghy, Chris Moroz, Jeff Oliver, Derek Peddle, Michael Perry, John Poulsen, William Ramp, Keith Roscoe, Elizabeth Schultz, Ivan Townshend and Kenneth Vos

10 Years | Louise Arsenault, Stella Baah, Brenda Bell, Donald Birchfield, Ryan Buckman, Jill Cassidy, Lorena deLange, Christopher Epplett, Margaret Forgie, Don Gill, Bill Glaister, Val Hill, Patricia Horrocks, Nancy Hosgood, Frank Huss, Deborah Jarvie, Helen Kelley, Carol Knibbs, Keith Knowles, Josh Korthuis, Christopher Kukucha, Greg Lacey, Corie Lazenby, Wayne Lippa, Karen Mahar, Jeremiah Merkl, Josephine Mills, Joy Morris, Chris Nicol, Chris Picken, Jeremy Pierson, Mike Pinder, Catharine Reader, Michael Robinson, Victor Rodych, Tammy Rogness, Mark Sabo, Robin Schafthuizen, Shelley Scott, Behnam Seyed Mahmoud, Gerry Ste. Marie, Robert Sutherland, William Tietz, Raquel Trillia, John von Heyking, Kevin Ward, Katherine Wasiak, Robert Williams, Barbara Williams, Jim Wishloff, Robert Wood and Jing Zhu

To view the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Sociology researcher Harrison receives Fulbright Scholarship

trevor.kenney — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:53:30 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Sociology researcher Trevor Harrison will become the 2010 Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Canadian Studies at Kennesaw State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (KSU), just outside Atlanta, Georgia as the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.

Harrison will be taking a sabbatical from the U of L until December 31, 2010 to travel south to lecture and conduct research at KSU, Georgia's 3rd largest university with a student population of more than 22,500 undergraduate and graduate students.

As a visiting Fulbright Scholar, Harrison is already on the school calendar and, in addition to guest lecturing in several courses, will deliver an opening lecture in mid-September, as well as host a number of informal sessions for faculty and students sponsored by the sociology and political science departments.

Among other topics, Harrison plans to bring a Canadian perspective to the relationship between Canada and the United States Since 9/11, issues surrounding nationalism and something that is sure to be interesting to Atlanta Falcons or KSU Owls fans -- the social history of the Canadian Football League.

Professor Harrison is a full professor in the Department of Sociology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. He completed his PhD in Sociology in 1988 at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta after completing his MA (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, 1985) and BA (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Winnipeg, 1979) degrees in sociology.

He has served as Visiting Professor in the Canadian Studies Program at Hokkai-Gakuen ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Sapporo, Japan, fall 2006) and at the Univesity of Alberta (1997-2002). Additionally, he was appointed as Interim Director (now Associate Director), of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy (2007). He has served as a consultant for various organizations, both at the international level.

Harrison is the U of L's fourth Fulbright Scholar. Drs Derek Peddle (Geography) Geoffrey Hale (political Science) and Chris Kukucha (political Science) have received past Fulbright awards.

Remote sensing conference featuring exceptional speakers

trevor.kenney — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:32:13 +0000

Remote Sensing researchers who look at the earth from afar – sometimes outer space – are getting hands-on, ground level experiences from June 22-25 at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The U of L is the site for the 30th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing. Conference Chair, Canadian Remote Sensing Society (CRSS) President and U of L Geography Professor Dr. Derek Peddle says more than 200 researchers, industry representatives and students are attending from Canada, the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, including a delegation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency, national award recipients and editors of the leading international remote sensing journals and publications.

"Remote sensing has many applications for agriculture, forestry, energy and urban planning. Examples include tracking forest fires, oil and gas industry mapping, assessing crop health, mountain pine beetle damage and other environmental challenges, such as floods and natural disasters," Peddle says. "It's important for everyone to meet with other scientists and applications specialists about this work."

Keynote speakers include high-ranking officials from the Alberta and Federal governments, the CSA and NASA, such as Dr. Diane Wickland from NASA Headquarters in Washington DC.

"We're doing new things – making a Conference with a Difference. They'll be accessible to all delegates, for informal interaction – this type of group and format has never been done before at any international symposia," says Peddle.

The conference is a team effort, and Peddle says the key players have put in countless months to make sure everything goes off as planned.

"For me, it started in May 2006. Heather Mirau and our Conference Services staff on campus have been outstanding, and my colleagues in geography, Dr. Craig Coburn and CRSS Executive member Dr. Anne Smith, a researcher at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, have really stepped up to make sure the program and other details are looked after. As well, local industry partners Ryan Johnson and staff at Iunctus Geomatics Corporation plus the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre are highly involved, and are showcasing the technology we have in Lethbridge which makes remote sensing a great business success story for the region."

Remote sensing conference coming to U of L

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:05:11 +0000

Playing a role in resource management

trevor.kenney — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:04:46 +0000

Improving the management of natural resources in Alberta, Canada and around the world is the goal of a new research centre announced recently by federal Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear.

Funded under the federal Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program and industry/government partners, the new Centre of Excellence for Integrated Resource Management will be the first of its kind in the world to focus geomatics science and engineering expertise towards the complex problems of large-scale resource and environmental management.

The centre will be led by Dr. Naser El-Sheimy, holder of a Canada Research Chair and the head of the Department of Geomatics Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and involves partners at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and other Canadian universities, the Province of Alberta and industry partners.

"This is a research and development centre that will lead to the commercialization of geomatics tools that will help ensure the responsible maintenance and management of resources in Canada and in countries across the globe," U of C Vice-President (Research) Rose Goldstein says. "A centre of this calibre will undoubtedly attract some of the leading researchers in the field to our province."
"At the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, we have been working on – and investing in – this program for the past six years," says Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick, Vice-President,
Research. "We brought to Lethbridge senior remote sensing scientists like Dr. Philippe Teillet and Dr. Karl Staenz to join Dr. Craig Coburn and Dr. Derek Peddle, and this group of experts is housed in our new Alberta Water and
Environmental Science Building. The optical imaging of the earth is important to Alberta – for land and water management, as well as other natural resources and urban issues."

Fitzpatrick adds that the new centre at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and the collaborative focus between researchers and institutions represents a natural partnership where researchers can combine efforts to create a stronger program than they ever could individually.

"We expect the impact of this announcement, and the research generated from it, to have far-reaching implications," Fitzpatrick says.
"At the U of L, we are already at work on commercial applications for remote sensing through our partnership in the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Centre, which we operate with pioneering local business Iunctus Geomatics. As well, we have numerous undergraduate and graduate students currently studying this technology. They will take advantage of the educational and research opportunities generated by our people and others involved in this high-tech activity."

The extended time frame for funding – up to five years initially – allows for the significant development of new research and researchers, according to Dr. Philippe Teillet, who joined the U of L faculty in 2006 (Department of Physics and Astronomy). Teillet is a remote sensing researcher working with colleagues in the Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building.

"I came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge with my colleague Karl Staenz, and our goal was to help build research capacity and add to the projects that are already putting the U of L on the remote sensing map. This announcement is a validation of our approach, which was to be collaborative and flexible. Once programs are up and running, we will be working not individually, but in multiple teams. Together we can be even more productive."

UNews - Derek Peddle

Undergraduate student success highlights ATIC awards at national symposium

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