Drew is a wetland ecologist and wildlife biologist with over 15 years of experience. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009 (BS in Biology) and Western Washington University in 2016 (Master’s of Science). His career has emphasized research on the management and restoration of wild lands affected by invasive plants. He is currently Director of Wildlife Programs at the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy where he is focused on restoration, land management, and engaging the public with the natural world around us.

TSN Conference 2026

January 22nd, 2026 (Thursday) // 12:10 pm – 12:35 pm // Room 103 // Remote Sensing of Northern Wild Rice (Zizania palustris) Using an Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle // Zizania palustris is an annual grass native to wetlands and lakes of the Upper Great Lakes that is a culturally important resource to indigenous peoples of the region. Populations of Z. palustris have declined across Michigan, with approximately 1% of historic beds remaining. Monitoring and mapping Z. palustris is crucial to its conservation, but conducting fieldwork in remote wetlands in remote areas is challenging. Thus, remote sensing is a promising strategy. We investigated the feasibility of identifying northern wild rice among four other classes of wetland vegetation growing in a northern Michigan lake using imagery obtained by an Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (drone) outfitted with a multispectral camera. We used a machine-learning classifier to discern between vegetation classes and found classes were identified at an overall accuracy of 80%, with NDVI being the most important driver. Overall, this demonstrates the potential of remotely identifying a critical wetland resource.