Contact: Bob Ratliff
Four Mississippi State students are among 17 awarded new Graduate Studies in Remote Sensing Scholarships by the Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative.
Based at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, MSCI is a consortium of government agencies, businesses and universities working to develop, commercialize and expand the state's remote sensing industry. Remote sensing refers to the use of satellites and aircraft to gather information on land use, vegetation, moisture, and other characteristics of an area.
The MSU scholars include Harold A. Dunsford of Pittsburgh, Pa., Joseph C. Fanguy of Thibodaux, La., Buckley T. Foster of Booneville, Ark., and William M. Peterson of Bowling Green, Ky.
The $22,000 annual awards recognize their achievements as master's and doctoral students involved in research related to the needs of industrial customers. The 13 other scholars attend Jackson State University and the universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi.
Dunsford, a master's degree student in physics, is investigating methods to streamline the collection of data from satellite images. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from MSU.
Fanguy is pursuing a doctorate in analytical chemistry. His research goal is the development and construction of a miniaturized groundwater analysis system that can detect the presence of the herbicide diuron. He is a chemistry graduate of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.
Foster, a doctoral candidate in history, is evaluating remote sensing technologies that provide precise evaluations of land surfaces beneath vegetation in order to build an environmental history. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Peterson is pursuing a master's in agronomy. His research involves improvements in the use of remote sensing technologies for making fertilizer management decisions related to cotton production. He is a summa cum laude agronomy graduate of MSU.