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INVESTIGATOR: de Koff, J.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
3500 JOHN A. MERRITT BLVD
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37209

BUILDING EXTENSION CAPACITY BY DEVELOPING RELEVANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR NOVEL EXPERIENCES (DRONES) IN AGRICULTURE

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can reduce inputs and, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, can provide a return on investment of $12/acre of corn and $2-3/acre for soybean and wheat. These systems can also be used as a way to excite youth about agriculture and teach important STEM principles. A 2016 needs assessment of 94 ANR Extension agents (one per county) and 89 4-H Extension agents (one per county) in Tennessee identified 78% and 94% were interested in programming using UAS technology for adult and youth workshops, respectively.The main objectives are to (1) develop a DRONE educational platform (2) develop and implement curricula and regional workshops using the DRONE platform for separate adult and youth audiences to enhance farmer knowledge, awareness and interest in UAS technology and increase youth knowledge in STEM principles and youth interest in agriculture. Participant evaluations from each workshop will be utilized to improve subsequent workshops.The DRONE workshops will build capacity at Tennessee State University (TSU) by creating a novel program that can train farmers and Extension agents and educate students (K-12, undergraduate, graduate) on important, new agricultural technology. These workshops will build the capacity of Tennessee farmers (150 total) and youth (150 total) to compete and succeed in agriculture and science. It is also expected that about 5 undergraduate students will receive training and increase their capacity related Extension curriculum development through their assistance with this project. The DRONE platform and workshops will also increase TSU's capacity to attract stakeholders and students.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this project is to engage stakeholders in education using the new UAS technology.The main objective of this project is to develop and implement curricula and workshops related to using UAS technology for adult and youth audiences.The specific objectives of this project are to:1) incorporate UAS technology to demonstrate its potential uses in agriculturalproduction and provide hands-on experiential training to farmers 2) incorporate UAS technology to provide agricultural workforce development and teachSTEM concepts to youth3) disseminate results and outputs through online and hard copy formats4) provide training to undergraduate students in extension curriculum development andUAS technology5) evaluate the impact of the workshops and undergraduate training

APPROACH: Individual stakeholder groups for adult farmers and youth will be created and implementedto assistthe development of curricula related to UAS. Results from needs assessment surveys of Extension agents conducted by the PI will also be used in planning the curricula. Materials required for the DRONE platform will be purchased, testedand integrated. The project team will be trained in UAS by a consultant pilot and will apply for remotepilot certification. Adult and youth curricula and workshops will be developed. Undergraduate students will be hired to assist with development of youth workshops. Evaluation instruments for participants in adult and youth workshopswill be developed and reviewed.Workshop dates and locations will be identified. Workshops will be implemented in Years 2 and 3. Undergraduate students that were part of the project will be interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Data from evaluations will be analyzed and prepared for publication. It is expected that projectinformation and impacts will be disseminated through the CBG Project Director's meeting, a scientific conference, social media, peer-reviewed and other publications and annual reporting.

PROGRESS: 2019/02 TO 2020/02
Target Audience:The target audience reached included youth, undergraduate students, farmers, and extension agents. Changes/Problems:There was difficulty in implementingregional workshops related to drone technology for both youth and adult audiences due to low enrollment. Marketing the program was performed through the Cooperative Extension System, however, few individuals registered. Instead, our projectworkshops were incorporated into existing farmer and youth programs in 2019 to ensure participation. For example, the farmer workshops were incorporated into the TSU New Farmer Academy program and implemented through their workshops in each of the three regions of Tennessee. Also, smaller, county-based farmer workshopswere launched in January-March 2020 which provided additional participation. Following the three regional meetings, anecdotal evidence identified that participants may be less interested in flying an actual UAS after using the flight simulator softwarebecause it may make them more concerned about crashing. Therefore, the flight simulations were removed from the farmer workshops but remained for the youth workshops. This also allowed the smaller, county-based farmer workshops to be more nimble and only require one person to implement. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to the training and professional development identified under the accomplishments from Objectives 1 and 2, training and professional development was also provided to extension agents, agriculture industry professionals and research staff through threeUAS certification training workshops. These workshops and thecurriculum were developed as a result of this project. One training was held through the American Society of Agronomy for 30 participants as a series of 4 1-hour webinars in September 2019. 80% of those who took the certification exam indicated that the series helped them prepare. The other two workshops occurred in Princeton and Lexington, Kentucky in February 2020and trained 44research staff and extension agents. 84% increased their knowledge based on a pre- and post-test and 93% indicated that the training increased their likelihood of getting drone certification. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Depending upon the COVID-19 pandemic, we plan to engage in more farmer and youth training programs. As we are focusing on hands-on experiences for both audiences, the current social distancing requirements may delay these. Online or in person drone certification training workshopswill also occur. We also will create videos and fact sheets based on the curriculum developed and post these online. Updates will also be made to our website (http://www.tnstate.edu/faculty/jdekoff/drone.aspx) and to social media (Twitter:@TSUBioenergy). Data collected from evaluations will be presented at the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting and likely be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Evaluation of the impact of undergraduate training will also be implemented.

IMPACT: 2019/02 TO 2020/02
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective #1: Incorporate UAS technology to demonstrate its potential uses in agricultural production and provide hands-on experiential training to farmers Workshops were held in 9 counties in Tennessee which included 142 farmers and 28 Extension agents. Farmers had the opportunity to fly a Phantom 4 PRO UAS and learn about uses for UASin agriculture, federal and state regulations for UAS, and different UAS options and costs Objective #2: Incorporate UAS technology to provide agricultural workforce development and teach STEM concepts to youth Three separate workshops (National 4-H Congress, Davidson County 4-H GROWS Camp, I3 STEM Summer Camp) were heldthat included 258 youth participants. These workshops focused on UAS flight, codingand safety. Objective #3: Disseminate results and outputs through online and hard copy formats This has not yet been performed. Objective #4: Provide training to undergraduate students in extension curriculum development and UAS technology Three undergraduate students were provided with this training in June 2019 as part fo the I3 STEM Summer Camp. The studentsfocused on troubleshooting and implementing extension curriculum and used UAS technology for this workshop. Objective #5: Evaluate the impact of the workshops and undergraduate training Preliminary results found: 55% of farmers had increased interest in purchasing a UAS in the next 2 years after completing the workshops 63% of farmers changed their minds about UAS being difficult to fly indicating that they were lessdifficult than theythought 98% of farmers indicated an increase in their knowledge after completing the workshops 80% of extension agents had increased capacity to assist stakeholders with questions related to UAS and their software after completing the workshop 93% of youth participants in the I3 STEM Summer Camp either somewhat agree or agree that they know how to use the scientific method to solve problems

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2019/02 TO 2020/02
No publications reported this period.