Hey what’s up hello, we are some JMU students who have a cool drone.
Among our group, our knowledge expands across the fields of biology, WRTC, engineering, physics, and industrial design. Together, we are working with UAV drones to help JMU graduate students in their efforts to save the James Spinymussel, a local mussel found in the Swift Run River.
We will attempt to locate the James Spinymussel’s in their natural habitat
The James Spinymussel is a freshwater mussel endemic to the James River watershed, whose reduction in range and rarity put it on the endangered species list in 1988. Pollution and erosion have caused local riverbeds to become sandier. Mussels have a complex reproductive cycle, and in order to survive they need to be clustered together in rocky riverbeds. The increase in sand is starting to separate the mussels as they shift more easily in sand.
Our main objective lies in creating a detailed map of the Swift Run River to help identify stream characteristics such as different substrates, riffles, and stream shoreline. This will help aid the JMU graduate students, who are working under the Jeffress Memorial Trust grant, to plot the location of the mussels with much more accuracy. We hope to show where the river is sand and rock on our new map
We hope to use GoPro cameras to capture aerial images of the river, and geo-reference those images together to create our map. This map should help to reduce the man-hours required for finding the mussels and to help better determine the mussels’ travel patterns.
Swift Run Map overlaid with drone fly zones
Technology is intimidating in its capacity to innovate a new world, yet inspiring in its application to innovate a better world. These drones are tools used to inspire humanitarian progress, and in applying the technology to the restoration of the James Spinymussel, we see the potential for action. We see the potential to change the fate of a species. We see a better future. (Mic drop).
Pictured (back from left to right): Meghan Raphael, Brie Hayden, Patrice (mentor), Erin O’Brein, Kevin Johnson, Stephen Meyer, Kate Madden, Collier Apgar