Grads, professor present at conference

    PRESQUE ISLE – Two University of Maine at Fort Kent graduates presented a project on Ice Jams and Flood Modeling at the fall conference of the Maine GIS User Group (MEGUG) on Friday, Sept. 26, in Presque Isle.     Jason Desjardin, of Castle Hill, and Spencer Caron, of Fort Kent, both 2007 graduates of UMFK’s Forestry program, presented their GIS pilot project, which models flood potential by ice jams for the Allagash River.
    The Desjardin-Caron model is a pilot project which was done on the Allagash River of Aroostook County.
    However, the model can be applied to any river to demonstrate the areas of impact (populations, habitats and infrastructure) that would be affected by flooding due to an ice jam.
    The purpose of creating the model is to assist public, watershed or natural resource managers with analyzing the areas impacted due to flooding resulting from ice jams.
    Desjardin currently is employed as an operations forester with Orion Timberlands, LLC in Bangor.
    Caron is GIS professional and surveyor technician with Northern Maine Surveyors in Madawaska.
    Dustin Desjardins, of Madawaska, a senior at UMFK specializing in GIS in the Environmental Studies program, co-authored the pilot project, along with Desjardin and Caron.
    UMFK Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Dave Hobbins, made a presentation entitled: “A Review of Research on Consumer Grade GPS Units for Mapping Purposes and the Advantages and Pitfalls of Trimble Geo-x GPS Units,” an evaluation of research on a selected number of consumer (navigation) grade GPS.