Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 47.19
Liaison Kayla Tillapaugh
Submission Date May 30, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Selkirk College
IN-3: Innovation 3

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Doris Hausleitner
Instructor
School of Environment and Geomatics
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Title or keywords related to the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Wetlands Restoration and Drone Monitoring

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:

Students from the Integrated Environmental Planning program (IEP) are working with the Selkirk College Geospatial Research Centre (SGRC), Columbia Power Corporation, Seepanee Ecological Consulting and Treebear Consulting on a project which involves landscape restoration and remediation of a wetland close to Hugh Keenleyside Dam in Castlegar. The students from the SGRC are monitoring of the project using drones.

This is the first drone project for the SGRC. The drone has taken pre-treatment images of the pond area. The students in the IEP program have completed the restoration work for this year. Planting a variety of vegetation, managing drainage and creating habitat structures.

The plan is to use the drone to produce imagery of the site to monitor progress and success of the project.


A brief description of any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation (if not reported above):

Prior to the wetland restoration. The SGRC conducted pre-treatment remote sensing and has produced over 600 images. Post processing involved adding a GPS location to each image by cross referencing the time on the image to that on the GPS flight log on the drone. Images were then stitched together, to form an orthomosaic of the scene as well as a 3D digital surface model.

The end product was very impressive with the orthmosiac image having a pixel size of 1cm compared to traditional imagery such as Google Earth with a pixel size of around 1m.

In April, 17 IEP students gathered in a 50-hectare wetland area just up the lake from the Hugh Keenleyside Dam. In partnership with Columbia Power Corporation, students spent a week planting trees and making enhancements to a restoration area that has become a vital habitat for a variety of species. Selkirk College students planted four different species of trees—upland and wetland willows, cottonwood and red-osier dogwood—and created barriers to keep the new additions safe from hungry ungulates. The restoration project is being monitored and irrigated this spring.

Post treatment drone surveys will be conducted over the coming years.

Drone surveys together with ecological restoration work is an exciting new direction for the College and innovative in the field of environmental restoration.


A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise:
Which of the following STARS subcategories does the innovation most closely relate to? (Select all that apply up to a maximum of five):
Yes or No
Curriculum Yes
Research Yes
Campus Engagement Yes
Public Engagement Yes
Air & Climate ---
Buildings ---
Dining Services ---
Energy ---
Grounds ---
Purchasing ---
Transportation ---
Waste ---
Water ---
Coordination, Planning & Governance ---
Diversity & Affordability ---
Health, Wellbeing & Work ---
Investment ---

Other topic(s) that the innovation relates to that are not listed above:
Ecological restoration

The website URL where information about the innovation is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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