Leonard Hambrecht

Hiroto Goto presented his exciting work on drone‑based moose population surveys at #tws2025. Can’t wait to see his research develop further! 🌲🦌 #WildlifeScience #DroneTech

I presented my latest work on drone‑based surveys to estimate moose populations. Using simulations, we were able to:
- Compared various drone platforms
- Found that fixed‑wing drones equipped with a gimbal‑mounted camera provide a viable, safe alternative to conventional methods.
#TWS2025 #drone

I'm excited to present my work on surveying wildlife with drones and connect with the TWS community #TWS2025
Join me, Monday 9:15 in Salon 8

Visible light (RGB) image of a conifer forest.

Thermal image showing two animals.

IR image zoomed in on the thermal signatures.

Preliminary results are in: Fixed-wing drones show strong potential for moose surveys.

Monitoring moose populations has been traditionally done by helicopter. Our partners at UBC are exploring if drones are a better alternative.

🔗Learn more: friresearch.ca/publications...

@irssubc.bsky.social

Current Vacancies

I am currently advertising a new 3-year research position in my TerraLuma team: Research Associate in Drone Field Operations (Academic Level A)

The position will support the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network’s (@TERN_Aus) Dronescape project.

careers.utas.edu.au/cw/en/job/50...

Mapping fractional vegetation cover in UAS RGB and multispectral imagery in semi-arid Australian ecosystems using CNN-based semantic segmentation - Landscape Ecology Context Monitoring fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is crucial for assessing ecosystem health and sustainably managing semi-arid rangelands. Field-based methods are resource-intensive, while moderate...

My PhD paper is out🤠We advance methods for mapping fractional vegetation cover using a CNN-based U-net on cm-scale UAS RGB & multispec imagery, capturing patterns in sparse, complex vegetation & enabling detailed, scalable mapping in semi-arid ecosystems.
[1/8]
doi.org/10.1007/s109...

If you don't think the IRSS flies #drones in the winter, you've never done field work with Leanna (@la-stack.bsky.social) & Kirk! ❄️

Leanna was out collecting leaf-off #lidar & #ThermalImagery of winder conditions for trout-bearing steams in Alberta with @friresearch.bsky.social!

Liftoff for the Moose Project - fRI Research

@friresearch.bsky.social recaps postdoc @l-hambrecht.bsky.social's recent field work in Hinton, Alberta to test the use of thermal #drones over horses in the area 🐴

The horses were used as proxies for moose detection under various canopy cover to survey #moose populations

Stay tuned for findings!

SilviLaser 2025

For all our #RemoteSensing and #Lidar friends here on BlueSky, be sure to follow us for all the info relating to SilviLaser 2025!

📅 Sep 29 - Oct 3, 2025
🚩 Quebec City, Canada
📃 Call for abstracts is now open!
🖥️ Be sure to sign up for our newsletter!

www.silvilaser2025.com
@ubcforestry.bsky.social

High tech, meet the horses!

Folks from Integrated RS Studio came to test their tech for identifying ungulates under canopy cover. We’re short on trained moose that will stand around where we want them, so we used our biologist’s horses as test subjects!

📷 Arya Horon, Caroline Lesage

‘It shouldn’t be that easy’: inside the illegal wildlife trade booming on social media Social media sites have become crucial tools for the sale of endangered species and platforms should do more to combat it, say experts

Unfortunately this is nothing new. I've worked on online IWT for 15yrs, others for 20yrs. I fear many 'initiatives' are treated as green washing by social media companies.

‘It shouldn’t be that easy’: inside the illegal wildlife trade booming on social media www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NEW PAPER📢 Seasonal vegetation dynamics for phenotype using multispectral #drone imagery: differentiation, #ClimateAdaptation & hybridization of #InteriorSpruce

🔓#OpenAccess: doi.org/10.1016/j.rs...
✍️Grubinger, Coops, O'Neill, Degner, Wang, Waite, Riofrio, Koch
🙏 NSERC

#UBCforestry #remotesensing

Are you a scientist that uses cameras, acoustics or drones to monitor wildlife? Are you using satellite imagery to assess forests? Join the Biodiversity Monitoring starter pack and let the world know! Reply below and point me to your research to be added. ECRs and PhDs welcome😊

go.bsky.app/eFMQQX

Hello! 👋 The IRSS is excited to try out this new platform!

We'll continue to share the latest new from IRSS, recent publications, job opportunities and everything fun related to #RemoteSensing and more! 🛰️

#RemoteSensing #Lidar #ALS #drones #SatelliteImagery