By Dawn Azok
Made in Alabama
Drones are quickly becoming a prolific part of modern society, and students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are doing cutting-edge research involving the flying machines.
Elizabeth Bevan, a doctoral student in the Department of Biology, is using drones in her thesis project that studies the effects of climate change on the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico.
Her focus is understanding the courtship and mating behaviors of the turtles, and drones have given her an up-close view into their previously unknown habitat. They do so without interfering with the animals.In 2013, Bevan and her mentor, biology professor Dr. Thane Wibbels, started using a basic drone with a GoPro camera attached. They sent it out over the water to film hatchings they had been monitoring on the beach, and they were floored by the potential.
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