IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021 - 115

The independent problem solving that this research
has taught me is a priceless skill that I will carry with
me and continue to build for the rest of my career.
Being forced to solve complex problems and to present
solutions in publications or presentations, where
their validity will be questioned by other physicists,
has been the experience that has taught me the
most and also empowered me the most in my undergraduate
career. I was excited to join a research
group where I had seen students be so successful, be
it with poster presentations or publications. The lidar
research group is perhaps the most active and rigorous
group in our department, and it is precisely this
experience that has prepared me to continue my education
in graduate school.
The model stresses independent work and helps students
develop the vital research skill of being able to identify
what it is that they do not know and how to learn it so
they can solve problems. CCSU student Alicja Urbanczyk
described developing these skills through the project:
Since joining the lidar research team at CCSU, my independent
research skills have grown tremendously.
It has allowed me to learn about the expectations
and responsibilities that are required for a successful
research team. Although our team faces problems
and hurdles, we overcome each one through
(sometimes hours of) our own troubleshooting
methods. Each problem allows us the opportunity
to think outside the box and develop new ideas on
how to isolate the problem and develop methods to
eradicate it.
The partnership model strives to bring students not only
the academic skills necessary for success but also the soft
skills, such as the ability to function well in a team, that are
crucial for scientific problem solving. UB student Edward
Knowles addresses this aspect of the experience:
I gained many new skills during the time I spent participating
in this research initiative. I developed leadership
and team-building skills by working alongside
Dr. Kabir and other members of our team, scheduling
times to meet and ensuring that weather conditions
were optimal to perform the experiments. Through
my participation, I was able to gain more technological
and scientific knowledge on the topics of aerosols,
laser optics, and physics. I had the hands-on
opportunity of culminating what I knew and giving
a presentation on it at the UB Student Research Symposium,
placing second place. I also had the amazing
opportunity to perform CLidar experiments on San
Salvador at the Gerace Research Center.
Students involved in courses within their major are encouraged
to see the applications of the disciplinary subjects
to remote sensing and to delve more deeply into topics
relevant to remote sensing that are usually not covered indepth
in their undergraduate courses. CCSU student Justin
Fagnoni speaks to this aspect of the experience:
JUNE 2021 IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE
Two of my favorite courses in the physics curriculum
are Electricity and Magnetism and Optics. The CLidar
research offers firsthand experience with a practical
application of some of the material discussed in
these courses. Learning the theory in itself was exciting,
but witnessing what can be done with such theory
has been particularly rewarding. I am grateful for
the opportunity to participate in the CLidar research
at Central because it has fostered growth and helped
me to develop new skills as a physicist. For instance,
it has provided me with experience in constructing
models from empirical data that accurately depict
physical phenomena. Furthermore, it has pushed me
to look deeper into and better my understanding of
topics including Rayleigh scattering theory and atmospheric
radiative transfer.
Students, such as Najee Stubbs from UB, who have completed
their time with the group, typically speak to the lasting
impact of the experience:
Through my involvement with Dr. Kabir's remote
sensing research projects, I've learned the CLidar
system for environmental characterization. As an
undergraduate research assistant, I've been afforded
many opportunities to grow and expand my scientific
knowledge. Among these opportunities, I've
coauthored a paper at IGARSS2018 and competed
in a research exhibition competition at the National
Society of Black Engineers 44th Annual Convention
(2018), where I presented findings ( " Aerosol Mapping
and Detection of Pollution in The Bahamas
Using a Camera-Based Laser Radar " ). Also, because
of my research experience with Dr. Kabir at UB, it
has been much easier for me to obtain positions on
other research projects at my current institution, the
University of Arkansas. Moreover, the research conducted
with Dr. Kabir has been a major contributor
to my graduate school applications. In all, the impact
of working with Dr. Kabir's research group has
spanned way beyond the scope of the projects we've
worked on, and I am very grateful to have been a
part of it.
With the growing importance of remote sensing as a tool
for atmospheric studies, including air quality, atmospheric
dynamics, and climate, the drive to educate more students
in these fields is strong. Including students in research at
the undergraduate level is one of the accepted best practices
for encouraging students in a field. The institutional partnership
model for building student/faculty research groups
presented here has multiple benefits. The inexpensive
equipment used allows each institution to have its own set
of lidar instrumentation while maintaining accessibility for
institutions with limited resources. Students at each institution
gain hands-on experience with the real issues involved
in experimental atmospheric remote sensing and instrumentation.
The sharing of expertise offers a quick learning
curve for students and faculty, allows students to swiftly
115
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021
