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Five Questions with Rachael Cronin ’24

October 30, 2024 Headshot of Rachael Cronin smiling. She has shoulder-length brown hair and is wearing a light blue shirt over a dark blue t-shirt. The background is a forest of trees.

Meet Rachael Cronin, a new research technician at the Carolina Drone Lab (CARDNL)!

Cronin graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in environmental science from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2024. Through her work, she developed a love for native plant communities, environmental restoration, remote sensing and sustainable agriculture. Prior to joining CARDNL full time, Cronin worked on their Currituck Sound project as an intern researching machine learning and artificial intelligence-driven classification schemes. In her current role, she continues to work on CARDNL’s Currituck Sound Project by conducting submerged aquatic vegetation surveys, water quality samples and drone flights, all while supporting CARDNL’s other research endeavors.

Outside of work, Cronin enjoys live music, going to the farmer’s market, cooking for friends, paddleboarding and doting on her niece and nephew.

Surveying aquatic vegetation in the Currituck Sound.
Surveying aquatic vegetation in the Currituck Sound.

Tell us about your career so far.

I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in May 2024, so my career has really just started! I had several internships and summer jobs during my time as an undergraduate, including working on a farm and at a native plant nursery, being a GIS analyst for a non-profit in Carrboro, and working as an undergraduate research assistant with the Carolina Drone Lab (CARDNL). I stayed on with the Drone Lab after graduating and moved into a Research Technician position fulltime. I was really interested in the projects they were working on, and I wanted to gain more drone-piloting and fieldwork experience.

Catching salamanders at an undergraduate internship with the Chapel Hill Library. I worked there upkeeping trails and helping with the outdoor education programs.
Catching salamanders at an undergraduate internship with the Chapel Hill Library. Cronin helped with the upkeep of trails and the outdoor education programs.

What does your day-to-day look like as a CARDNL research technician?

My day-to-day can really vary with CARDNL. This summer I spent a lot of time with the lab out doing fieldwork in the Currituck Sound. We are working with the NC Audubon Society and NC Collaboratory to monitor shoreline erosion and effects of sea-level rise in the marsh. Many of my days are spent knee deep in mud, tromping through black-needle rush, surveying aquatic plants, and flying drones over the marsh. Other (cleaner) days are spent back at the office reviewing the data obtained in the field and creating maps from the drone imagery. CARDNL also has several other projects and events going on that we have been working on this summer, like mapping the new OWASA pipeline expansion at Morgan Creek and visiting 4H camps to talk with the campers about using drones for wildlife management. One of my favorite parts of this position is that my days almost never look the same!

Commuting out to the marsh to conduct drone flights.
Commuting out to the marsh to conduct drone flights.

What were the most important things you did as an undergraduate to prepare yourself for this position? What advice would you give to undergraduates who are interested in a similar career path?

Seek out a variety of experiences! Take a field-based summer class or go to a field-site if you are able. Try and find ways to build on your academic knowledge with real-life experiences, whether that be research or an internship or even asking to shadow your professor for an afternoon. I’ve found that things I’ve learned from my summer jobs and field classes can become useful in really surprising ways. I learned important analytical skills through my remote sensing/GIS classes that I was able to pair with more hands-on experiences from my internships and environmental science classes. One of the ways I was able to expand my technical skillset was taking a special topics course with Dr. Bell, which focused on using drones for environmental research. I was able to get my Remote Pilot’s License to operate drones and applied to work with CARDNL, which led to my position with the lab now.

Collecting GPS points for a project with the drone special topics class I took as an undergraduate at UNC.
Collecting GPS points for a project with the drone special topics class I took as an undergraduate at UNC.

What is one thing you are looking forward to learning more about or getting more experience in through this position?

I’m looking forward to gaining more experience piloting different types of drones and participating in the different ways they are used for environmental research. Drones can be used for prescribed burn planning and evaluation, watershed management, agriculture, or even surveying underwater vegetation. People are coming up with new ways to utilize drones every day, so it’s a really exciting field to be working in right now!

Taking elevation points and conducting fieldwork in the marsh. - Taken by Megan Mendenhall, UNC Research.
Taking elevation points and conducting fieldwork in the marsh. Photo by Megan Mendenhall, UNC Research.

How do you like to spend your time when you’re not flying drones for CARDNL?

I like to go paddleboarding and hiking, cook with friends, and visit the local library!

Hiking at Roan Mountain with my roommate.
Hiking at Roan Mountain with my roommate.

 

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