XIAOJUN QIAO, PH.D.

Dr. Qiao came into MANTIS with a bachelor’s degree in Surveying and Mapping and a master’s in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, both from China University of Mining & Technology (2014, 2017). He graduated from the Geospatial Computer Science program in 2023. As a MANTIS student, he conducted research focused on the application of GPS and InSAR campaign measurements to estimate land subsidence. He published several papers during his time as a doctoral student. Dr. Qiao returned to China to pursue a research career at China University of Mining & Technology.

Pratikshya regmi, m.s.

Pratikshya attended the GSEN program through the Summer of 2023. She holds a BE in Geomatics from Katmandu University, Nepal in 2018. Her undergraduate research was focused on analyzing the effect of image overlap, the number of ground control points (GCPs), and their distribution pattern on the overall accuracy of UAS photogrammetry-derived products. Her master’s research focused on the application of GeoAI methods in UAS and Remote Sensing surveying. Pratikshya also worked on managing the TAMUCC Historic sUAS Imagery website and campus survey project. She has since moved on to the Geospatial Analytics doctoral program at North Carolina State University.

José Luis Landivar, m.s.

José graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 2020. He worked as a Research Associate at Texas A&M AgriLife, where he transferred, developed, and optimized digital agriculture website tools from a local server to a cloud server. He also worked on training students on Aerial Data Processing. After graduating from the Geospatial Systems Engineering program at TAMUCC, José took a full-time position as a researcher with AgriLife.

Judy Millien, m.s.

Judy completed her master’s in Geospatial Systems Engineering in 2023. She worked under Dr. Starek and her research was based on continuous monitoring of beach elevation via traditional GNSS methods. She hopes to use the knowledge and experience she acquired over the years to one day become a registered professional surveyor.

Larissa mARQUES freguete, M.S.

Larissa spent a couple of years at MANTIS as a student in the Geospatial Systems Engineering program at TAMUCC. She graduated in 2022, having researched about uses of satellite imagery and sea surface temperature to detect eddies. She also explored the implementation of various UAS techniques for bathymetric mapping, including advantages and limitations. Larissa also holds a bachelor’s degree in Oceanography and a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, both from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (2014 and 2016) and has had experience with uses of hydrodynamic modeling to detect ocean currents. Larissa has since returned to Brazil where she works as a researcher at a local institute.

Kelsi schwind, M.S.

Kelsi Schwind integrated the Lab as a doctoral student in the Coastal and Marine System Sciences program under the advisory of Dr. Starek. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Geosciences with a minor in Geography from Texas A&M University in 2014 and graduated as an Undergraduate Research Scholar. She received her M.S. in Geography from The University of Alabama in 2017, where she studied the potential of UAV-borne LiDAR to estimate biomass in a Costa Rican tropical rainforest. Kelsi's research interests include utilizing terrestrial laser scanning data and structure from motion techniques to estimate volumetric changes in the beach environment and further exploring applications of remote sensing for conservation efforts.

Kelsi has now moved to Austin and works as a GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist at Texas Parks & Wildlife.

MOHAMMAD PASHAEI, PH.D.

Dr. Pashaei holds a Ph.D. in Geospatial Computer Science from TAMUCC (2021). His doctoral research was based on developing a machine learning/deep learning-based framework for retrieving geospatial information collected using different remote sensing technologies including UAS and lidar. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and Surveying from Tehran Polytechnic (2005), and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Photogrammetry from the University of Tehran (2009).

Dr. Pashaei is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the College of Engineering and continues to integrate machine learning techniques for geospatial applications.

Jacob “Jake” Berryhill, M.S., UAS

Jake became a member of MANTIS in 2013, during his undergraduate studies in the Geographic Information Science program at TAMUCC. He holds a master’s degree in Geospatial Systems Engineering also from TAMUCC (2020). His master’s research focused on best practices for UAS mapping for oil spill response on sandy beaches. Jake remained at MANTIS after graduation and currently serves as a research engineer for the lab.

William M. Alexander, UAS

Will grew up in Sugar Land TX, and came to Corpus Christi in 2015 for his undergraduate studies in the Geographic Information Science program. He graduated from the program with honors in 2019. After graduation, he worked with MANTIS and Lone Star UAS Center on testing and evaluating UAS technologies. He has also had some experience serving as president of the GISc student association during his time at the university. Will has since moved onto the surveying industry where he continues to work with UAS and lidar.

Daniel Martinez

Daniel Martinez grew up in Corpus Christi where he attended Moody High School. As a result, Daniel has been very active and passionate in his outreach efforts to local high schools. He has made many trips to local high schools and middle schools to give presentations and demonstrations of drone and land surveying technologies and he actively recruits youngsters to the Geographic Information Science programs at TAMUCC. He has research interests in UAS-SfM techniques.

Edison Veloz, M.S.

Edison Sebastian Veloz came to MANTIS Lab from Pujilí, Ecuador. He earned his undergraduate degree in Geographical Engineering and Environmental Management at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and his master’s in Geospatial Systems Engineering (GSEN) under the direction of Dr. Michael Starek. His thesis work focused on the analysis of environmental impacts through the utilization of geospatial technologies such as UAS platforms, multispectral imagery, and satellite imagery on mining sites in his home country, Ecuador. His professional experience includes the analysis and treatment of geospatial and environmental information for public and private entities.

KEVIN WILSON, M.S.

While a MANTIS Kevin Wilson, worked as a graduate assistant on the Campus Survey Project, which performs quarterly surveys of the TAMUCC campus. His thesis work used data collected in Eleuthera and focused on optimizing camera calibration parameters using successive iterations in PhotoScan/Metashape, generating tie points to merge terrestrial LiDAR scans, and georegistering and assessing the accuracy of the resulting point clouds. Upon graduation, Kevin was offered and accepted a position at Hanson Professional Services Inc.

FNU GURKIRAT

Gurkirat earned his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Maharishi Markandeshwar University, India (2017). His graduate research focused on predicting the potential effects of hurricanes on Ward Island, Corpus Christi by mapping storm surges using high-resolution DEMs derived from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery.

Christopher Reynolds, M.S.

While at MANTIS, Chris’ thesis work included comparing point clouds gathered using two emerging survey technologies, UAS and TLS, to perform a coastal resiliency study in a littoral zone along Laguna Shores Road. Post-graduation, Chris accepted an offer of employment with the Department of Defense.

chuyen nguyen, ph.d.

Chuyen started her research’s journey with MANTIS since 2014 as a research graduate assistant.  Her research focused on the development of machine learning methods for hyperspatial three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data (generated by TLS and UAS-SfM) to accurately characterize of marsh elevation and landcover evolution. As MANTIS/CBI is great in providing students a real-world research experience to excel in any career environment, she had the opportunity to be involved in both field surveys/data collection and processing/machine learning algorithm developments. With the support of MANTIS lab, CBI field crews, and especially her mentor, Dr. Michael Starek, Chuyen has published 3 peer-reviewed papers featured in Remote Sensing journal. Her first paper was published in the special issue “3D modelling from point clouds: algorithm and methods”. Her third paper was published in the special issue “geospatial monitoring with hyperspatial point clouds”.  She was awarded the American Society for Engineering Education’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (ASEE) to continue her research dream at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

ANDY VIGSTOL

Andy has 19 years of civil engineering and field experience throughout the Corpus Christi area. He has served as design engineer for numerous street projects for the City of Corpus Christi, providing an understanding of local standards and design factors. In addition to working on several City of Corpus Christi street projects, he has managed numerous highway, bridge, and infrastructure projects throughout the Coastal Bend and is knowledgeable of local constructability issues and considerations.

Michael Walpert, m.s.

Michael integrated MANTIS as a research student in the Geospatial Systems Engineering program. His research revolved around risk assessment of potential landing zones on Mars using GIS, Machine Learning, and stereo photogrammtery. He has since accepted a position at SAM Inc. as a Senior Technician.

Laura Carbajal, m.s.

Laura completed her Geospatial Systems Engineering MS as a remote student in the fall of 2018. Her project evaluated forage properties of an experimental grazing land using UAS-based remote sensing techniques that measured forage health by calculating four vegetation indices (VIs) from the multi-spectral reflectance images.

behrokh nazeri, M.S.

While part of MANTIS Lab, Behrokh completed his thesis work detecting submerged structures using bathymetric LiDAR and evaluating the glint removal effect using SfM imagery over shallow water. After graduating in 2016, his keen interest in LiDAR, mobile mapping systems, UAS classification, and machine learning lead him to embark on a Ph.D. at Purdue University, where he currently studies Civil Engineering.

Alex Fontes, M.S.

After completing the requirements for the Geographic Information Science B. S., Alex Fontes performed his thesis research on LiDAR applications while working full-time performing bathymetric LiDAR surveys for TerraSond.

michael schwind, M.S.

While part of MANTIS Lab, Michael Schwind studied the optimization of pointclouds gathered from UAS and LiDAR platforms for his thesis project. Upon graduation, he was hired as Geographer by the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, LA.

Carly stanton, B.S.

While part of MANTIS Lab, Carly began as a Student Technician at Texas A&M AgriLife where she performed geospatial data analysis of crop health and pest damage on cotton, sorghum, and corn. In 2015, Carly became a Research Assistant, developed web and mobile applications in JavaScript for the Conrad Blucher Institute, and conducted remote sensing for precision agriculture research. Upon graduation in 2016, Carly was hired by CSX Technology as a GIS Engineer I in Jacksonville, FL.

Thomas Davis, M.S.

While part of MANTIS Lab, Thomas Davis worked as the head of the land surveying project under the TAMUCC Facilities where he developed as-built and property surveys for university-owned lands, integrated Unmanned Aerial Systems for the Conrad Blucher Institute, and headed up the FAA permitting process to gain legal authorization to operate in the National Airspace System (NAS). Upon graduation from the Geospatial Survey Engineering program, Thomas was hired by the Army Corps of Engineers as a Land Surveyor in New Orleans, LA.

ZACHARY smith, M.S.

JUSTIN ZACHARY GIESSEL, M.S.

KEVIN EARL, M.S.

CASEY DOYL COCKRELL, M.S.

Russel Robert Rule