RUCOOL hosted 4-H STEM Ambassadors to explore the use of drones for remote sensing and environmental monitoring. The 4-H STEM Ambassador program welcomes New Jersey youth from middle and high school to the SEBS campus to participate in hands-on activities as they learn alongside Rutgers faculty in their respective discipline. Now in its 14th year, the program supports young people from six urban communities around New Jersey, with the objective of supporting and encouraging first generation college students in the pursuit of STEM careers.
Seven STEM Ambassadors spent the day with Dr. Hugh Roarty from RUCOOL to learn about the High Frequency radar network that is used to measure ocean surface currents and how drones are used to calibrate the radars. The STEM Ambassadors will take the knowledge they have gained this past week back to their respective communities and teach-back to their younger peers at local YMCAs, libraries, and afterschool programs.
Pictured from left to right along with their respective 4H county affiliation:
Dr. Hugh Roarty, Sofia Oliveria Dias (Union), Samantha Alerte (Hudson), Crystal Lopez Cruz (Middlesex), Peyton Moore (Atlantic), Olivia Marker-Pittock (chaperone), Mohal Singh (Middlesex), Nicholas Manahan (Mercer), Marissa Staffen (4H Agent for Essex County), and Megan Denton (Mercer).
