News
Young and team receive second grant through the CIROH Institute to study harmful algal blooms using hyperspectral imagery
September, 2024:
Over the next 3 years, Young will collaborate with co-investigators from Utah State University and the University of Vermont to develop an operational workflow to detect harmful algal blooms using hyperspectral imagery from UAS and in situ instrumentation.
USGS HAB monitoring project featured on KSL News
August 13, 2024:
This summer, MS student Dylan McPeake and undergraduate researchers Kai Francom and Brock Whitaker have been conducting air and water sampling of HABs at Utah Lake to assess the potential for cyanotoxins to become aerosolized near the shore. This project was recently featured on KSL News. Read the story here: https://www.ksl.com/article/51098429/researchers-study-the-toxicity-and-airborne-spread-of-algal-blooms
Mitchell Bailey graduates with MS in electrical and computer engineering
July 18, 2024:
Mitchell Bailey (shown here piloting UAS from a bridge) defended his MS thesis, "Design of a Subsurface Water Velocity and Quality Measurement Payload for sUAS." He will receive his MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from USU, and his thesis was co-advised with Dr. Cal Coopmans. He is continuing as a PhD student at Iowa State University in the fall. Congrats!
Young receives NSF CAREER award
June 5, 2024:
Over the next 5 years, Young's CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation will support her research to monitor the effects of dust on vegetation, using the Great Salt Lake as a case study. She will receive roughly $550K over a five-year period. Read more about the project here.
Hemanth Dakshinamurthy successfully defends dissertation
December 1, 2023:
Hemanth Dakshinamurthy recently defended his dissertation titled "Advancing near-surface soil moisture measurements using robotics, automation, and remote sensing." He will receive his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from USU. He is continuing as a Research Scientist at South Carolina State University. Congrats Hemanth!
Young and team receive grant through the CIROH Institute to study camera-based hydrologic monitoring
September 20, 2023:
Over the next 3 years, Young will collaborate with co-investigators J. Horsburgh (USU) and E. Goharian (UofSC) to advance camera-based monitoring for operational hydrologic applications to monitor the Logan River using imagery and edge/cloud computing.
The DAISy Lab welcomes new graduate students!
August 15, 2023:
The DAISy Lab welcomes three new graduate students starting Fall 2023: Razin Bin Issa (MS), Dylan McPeake (MS), and Safran Khan (PhD). Welcome to USU!
Hemanth Dakshinamurthy becomes PhD candidate
November 30, 2022:
Hemanth successfully defended his dissertation proposal and is now a Ph.D. candidate in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at USU. Congrats, Hemanth!
Piyush Pandey graduates and receives dual PhDs from NC State
October 7, 2022:
Piyush Pandey recently defended his dissertation titled "Computer Vision and Robotics in the breeding of Pinus Taeda". He will receive PhDs from the Biological & Agricultural Engineering, and Forestry & Environmental Resources departments. He is continuing on as an ORISE postdoctoral fellow at USDA-ARS. Congrats Piyush!
PhD candidate Piyush Pandey receives NC State BAE Outstanding Teaching Assistant award
May 23, 2022:
Piyush Pandey recently received the “Outstanding Teaching Assistant” award from the NC State Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. Congrats Piyush!
The DAISy Lab Moves to Utah State!
December 15, 2021:
Starting January 1, 2022, the DAISy Lab will join the Utah Water Research Lab (UWRL) in the CEE Department at Utah State University. The UWRL has been a leader in water and environmental research for over 50 years and is the oldest and one of the largest university water research facilities in the US.
MS student Russell Smith defends thesis and graduates
December 2021:
Russell’s thesis was titled: “Estimation of Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Nearshore Aquaculture Environments using UAV RGB Imagery”. Russell hopes to continue working in the aquaculture industry. Congrats, Russell!
MS student Andrew Hillman defends thesis and graduates
October 2021:
Andrew’s thesis was titled: “Investigating Miscanthus Water Use Efficiency Using UAVs and In-Situ Sensors”. He is going on to complete a PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Congrats, Andrew!
Russell Smith receives Outstanding Student Presentation Award at the 2021 ASABE Annual International Meeting
July 25, 2021:
Russell is an MS student working on remote sensing and coastal water quality research. His presentation was titled “Sampling and Estimation of Surface Phytoplankton Concentrations in Brackish Environments via Autonomous Surface and Aerial Vehicles”.
PhD student Piyush Pandey invited to deliver workshop at the 2021 Midwest Big Data Summer School
June 11, 2021:
Piyush developed and delivered a tutorial on hyperspectral image processing at the 2021 Midwest Big Data Summer School held by Iowa State University. The tutorial can be found here.
MS student Anh Nguyen defends thesis and graduates
June 1, 2021:
Her thesis was titled “Accurate and Rapid Assessment of Pig Body Weights Using a Handheld, Mobile Stereo Imaging System”. She is continuing graduate school as a PhD student in the ECE department at NC State. Congrats Anh!
Young Elected to the North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN) Executive Board
February 1, 2021:
She will serve on the board from 2022-2024. For more information about NAPPN, see here: https://www.plantphenotyping.org/
Yuzhen Lu becomes Assistant Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Mississippi State
November 1, 2020:
His new position starts November 2020. Congratulations Yuzhen!
Young and team awarded $1M USDA NIFA grant for coastal robotics in aquaculture
August 5, 2020:
Young will lead an interdisciplinary team (Drs. John-Paul Ore, Steve Hall, Celso Castro-Bolinaga, Natalie Nelson) to develop a team of aerial and surface robots for water quality monitoring in coastal aquaculture production areas.
Young awarded New Faces of ASABE 2020 Top Honoree
February 1, 2020:
Sierra Young was selected as the New Face of ASABE – Professional’s category. She will visit Washington, D.C. later this year to help judge the Future City Competition finals.