Lou Ponsi
While the drones do provide a fresh perspective not normally available to humans, the students piloting these drones are taking advantage of what can be seen to help the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach.
Using the drones’ imagery, the Shark Lab’s researchers will be able to study behaviors exhibited by great white sharks who occupy the same Southern California waters as local swimmers and surfers.
The study aims to enhance knowledge of the sharks, while assessing the risks of interaction with humans.
“It just shows how we can use (drones) within a study,” Fullerton College Drone Lab student Emily Viveros, 27, of Fullerton said. “Yes you can fly drones, and that is great, but we are implementing it with something that is so cool.”
Viveros is a cyber security major, who enrolled in drone classes after her father, who works in the field of agriculture in Kern County, asked her to help him implement drone technology in his business.
“Flying in general is really great and just provides a different skill set that I didn’t know I would enjoy or even had,” Viveros said.
Fullerton College launched drone journalism classes in February 2019 and is now offering a full slate of classes in which students can earn certificates and associate degrees in drone piloting.
“If they choose not to (get their license), at least they will be a smarter and safer pilot and I feel good about that,” said Jay Seidel, drone instructor and coordinator of the Fullerton College Drone Lab.
Seidel, who also oversees the college’s journalism department, said he initially had no interest in offering drone classes in the journalism curriculum.
But that was before he attended a three-day training class at the University of Oregon for implementing drones for press photography.
“Up there, I drank the Kool-Aid,” Seidel said. “It gives a different perspective. I can really see how this can be used for story telling.”
Fullerton College’s drone curriculum includes basic and advanced drone-piloting courses, a course in applying drone piloting for specific fields and a course that will prepare students to earn a remote-pilot license from the FAA.
“We’re not the only school to have a drone program,” Seidel said. “Many have drone programs. Ours is different because we are solely focused on career technical education.”
The use of drones is becoming a staple in fields that include photography, infrastructure inspection, surveying, mapping, construction, architecture, journalism, real estate, public safety and film making.
Fullerton College drone student Eunice Thompson, 60, of Bellflower hopes to incorporate drone imagery into her work as a photographer and videographer.
“You can get so many different points of view that you really couldn’t get unless you were in a helicopter or an airplane,” Thompson said.
Other collaborations are also in the planning stages, Seidel said, including a potential partnership with the Orange County Water District, which would task the drone students with providing aerial images and mapping of the Santa Ana River, Prado Dam and other bodies of water governed by the district.
Drone students may also be called upon to perform visual inspections and take photographs of on-campus construction projects, Seidel said.
He said he also hopes to work with the college’s Administration of Justice Department to create drone classes related to public safety training.
The college has a variety of drones in its fleet, along with a mobile drone command vehicle – a high tech SUV equipped with video screens and other software.
“There are so many applications and so many uses,” Seidel said. “ It’s more than just a hobby.”