Bringing Resources Into the Classroom

First posted on 11-18-2010

The department of natural resource ecology and management at Oklahoma State University is in its first semester of offering a new introductory course for freshman and transfer students.

“The goal is to expose them to professions in natural resources, to help them decide if they are in the right field and hopefully establish a relationship with their cohort of classmates and move through the program together,” said Karen Hickman, NREM professor in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. “We are also exposing them to the diverse natural resources found within Oklahoma.”

Not only is the class brand new, it utilizes some new technology that has the potential for big things. The GigaPan process allows students to get real life experiences throughout Oklahoma, and eventually the United States.

The device is mounted on a tripod, and then a camera is mounted to the GigaPan. After programming the settings and zooming in to any desired strength, a series of hundreds of pictures creates a panoramic portrait.

However, the portrait isn’t just a normal photo. The photos are loaded into a computer with the GigaPan software, where they are stored and allows for the entire series to be very closely viewed, and fine-toothed-combed for individual objects.

Imagine sitting on top of a hill overlooking miles and miles of Oklahoma prairie. While this view is marvelous by itself, looking through binoculars allows for a close-up look at a deer not even visible by the naked eye. This is what is possible for the NREM students enrolled in the class.

“This technology will allow us to bring examples of various ecosystems in Oklahoma to the students, rather than taking the students to the field sites,” said Keith Owens, NREM department head. “It is a much more cost-effective way for us to teach students about the diversity of Oklahoma’s natural resources.”The use on this technology is still in its initial stages but photo databases of the five major ecosystems in Oklahoma: short grass prairie, tall grass prairie, cross timbers, pine hardwood forests and mixed grass prairie are being compiled.

Through these GigaPan databases students will be exposed to the natural resources and the threats to them at all of these Oklahoma sites. In addition, through a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant, Hickman has teamed up with colleagues throughout the country with some big ideas.

“Our goal is to create reusable teaching objects that can be used by anybody using this as some of the visual aids so that students can go to a GigaPan shot of the Great Basin Rangelands in Utah, for example,” Hickman said. “We should be able to have a website that will have all of this information about the different rangelands that are represented in GigaPan.”

A nationwide network of ecosystem exploration is on the horizon, and it started in The Great Plains.

“Dr. Owens was instrumental in obtaining this technology for use in our program,” Hickman said. “He has taken several of the photos we have so far and has been extremely helpful in assisting us in the use of the GigaPan.”

Learning how to use this technology has been an on-going exercise.

“Selecting the correct camera and lens is crucial, and we were fortunate to have Todd Johnson from Agricultural Communications Services help us,” Owens said. “We tested about a dozen different combinations of cameras and lenses to find the one that will work best for us.”

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