MonticelloLive

Learning the basic concepts and agricultural applications of global positioning systems (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS) was the subject of a recent workshop hosted by the Division of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Ten southeast Arkansas vocational agriculture teachers attended the workshop along with personnel from the UA Cooperative Extension Service and faculty from the UAM Division of Agriculture.

UAM faculty members Dr. Paul Francis and Dr. Bob Stark, and Dr. Terry Griffin of the UA Cooperative Extension Service in Little Rock conducted the workshop. Equipment and partial funding for the workshop came from AgrowKnowledge, a National Science Foundation organization based at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Francis and Stark had attended AgrowKnowledge workshops on the topics in previous years and received instruction for conducting the local workshop.

Workshop participants learned the uses of GPS and GIS in precision agriculture, using hand-held computers with GPS capability to establish point locations, construct field map boundaries, and incorporate attributes and features into the constructed maps.

According to Stark, the participants will “use the information and skills gained through the workshop to expand their high school course material, create student exercises involving GPS mapping, and add new components to their current research activities. They especially enjoyed the “hands-on” aspects of the workshop and saw new applications of the technology for both school and private use.”

Pictured (from left) are workshop participants Hal Gibson, Hamburg High School; Dr. Paul Francis, UAM/SEREC; Andrew Skinner, PCCUA Career and Tech Center, Dewitt; Keith Gresham, Rison High School; and Gene Raines, Warren High School.