Fine Fellow Lisa McKeon, USGS NOROCK

This summer, we've been noticing a lot of awesome GigaPan images of Glacier National Park, taken by Fine Fellow Lisa McKeon. McKeon, a physical scientist at the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) specializes in repeat photography, graphics, and data management. She has witnessed Glacier National Park's glaciers recede and is involved in deciphering how mountain ecosystems respond to climate change.



Recently, her work has focused on providing scientific understanding and resources to the public, directly or through the NOROCK website. Whether taking precision measurements of glacier margins or creating a useful website, it has been a pleasure to assist with efforts to increase our understanding of the effects of climate change in this beautiful corner of the world. Check out all of Lisa's GigaPan captures.

Twitter

Follow-us, tweet with us, and let us retweet your tweets! It's a win-win scenario. http://twitter.com/FOFSgigapan

Fine Fellows and Int'l GigaPixel Conference

We are getting really excited to host the new class of Fine Fellows this November in Pittsburgh. The 2010 Fine Fellows will kick off with a workshop to learn how to use a GigaPan and the stitching software. The fun does not end there. Kicking off at Carnegie Mellon University on November 11th is the FIRST Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science. Brought to you by CREATE Lab, Carnegie Mellon University with The Fine Foundation, the conference aims to explore innovative uses of GigaPan in the classroom, the field and the laboratory by leading scientists. Tell your colleagues and get on board, because this conference is going to be packed with arts, smarts and camera parts. The main purpose of the event is to bring together students, researchers, scientists, teachers and practitioners to present and discuss their latest techniques, ideas, applications and research findings related to various aspects of gigapixel imaging for science. Google's Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President, Engineering & Research leads Friday morning's keynote with a welcome by CMU's President Dr. Jared Cohen. Keep checking the website for additional details on the conference.

52 weeks of photos

On the University of Guelph campus in Ontario, Canada, the “Dairy Bush” is an 8.5 ha woodlot that has been part of the city and the university campus since 1830. The sign outside the Bush reads, "The Dairy Bush is a unique and delicate example of Great Lakes St. Lawrence forest in Southern Ontario, and serves as an outdoor laboratory for University of Guelph students." Between August 2009 and September 2010, 2008 Fine Fellow and Assistant Professor of Molecular Ecology Alex Smith has been visiting the Dairy Bush weekly to document a year in this urban woodlot using GigaPan panoramic images.

From a snail hanging out on a tree in September '09 to a tiny fly in May '10, Alex has captured many delicate features of this unique ecosystem. At week 51, Alex is about to wrap up an entire year of weekly GigaPan-ing. This impressive collection features many unique captures not only in Guleph, Canada, but also in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, CA, Costa Rica and Belize.

Dr. Alex Smith is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Ecology at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario.

GigaScapula, by Maguyver (aka Fine Fellow Matt Sisk)

What do you do when you're working in a remote location and you realize you've forgotten a crucial part of your tripod?

Fine Fellow Matt Sisk  recently returned from archaeology field work in Ethiopia, where he faced this dilemma... He says,"I've attached a photo of a new innovation in gigapan technology. Well, maybe not new, but when someone forgets the socket for the tripod and you're miles away from another, sometimes you have to Maguyver a solution out of cow bones and duct tape.  It worked surprisingly well..."

Matt is an archeology PhD Student at Stonybrook State University of New York whose work focuses mainly on the origins and character of modern human behavior, particularly use of the landscape. His dissertation research relates site location to models of subsistence, settlement, and sociality in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic of the Vezere Valley in southwest France.

View all of Matt's GigaPans

Paper submission now open

Submit a paper: http://precisionconference.com/~fofs

 We're so pleased to release the paper submission details for the first Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science (November 11–13, 2010 • Pittsburgh, PA).  Please note we've extended the paper submission deadline to June 28.

Paper Submission details
Prospective authors are invited to submit full-length, 4-6 page papers, including annotated gigapans where applicable. We expect gigapixel imaging to play a significant role in contributing to the scientific merit of the research described. The preferred format is a PDF file with 8.5x11 inch pages, 1 column, 10 point font (To create PDF from Microsoft Word, for example, just do Save As: PDF).
[download the paper submission template .doc | download the full CFP .pdf]

The proceedings will not be printed in a bound volume but will be available for free under an Open Access policy from a server at cs.cmu.edu during the conference and indefinitely afterward. PDF typically keeps only several hundred dots per inch, so to enable readers to see the full detail of gigapixel images, authors are strongly encouraged to include links to high resolution, interactive, or video media that resides outside their PDF. To do so, simply add a link to your document, e.g.: http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/17217/ or http://www.panoramas.dk/2009/lake-annecy-paragliding.html.

Some submissions will be accepted as 30 minute presentations and some will be accepted as posters with short talks. Attendees will have a range of scientific backgrounds, so please make your paper readable to people outside your specialty, and spell out acronyms on first use. Papers that have been previously published or are submitted elsewhere should be so identified. After a paper is accepted, authors can not only revise their PDF but also have the option to create a rich online format for the accepted paper, which could include for example HTML with embedded media.

Submit a paper: http://precisionconference.com/~fofs

Important Dates
June 28, 2010  •  Paper submission deadline
August 6, 2010  •  Paper and gallery show acceptance notification
August 23, 2010  •  Revised paper upload deadline
September 13, 2010  • Early registration deadline
October 21, 2010  •  Conference Registration deadline
November 11–13, 2010  •  Conference dates

Please visit the conference website at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~fofs for additional information, submission details, and further updates.

Time Lapse GigaPan

Exciting news from the CREATE Lab - we've recently started time lapse gigapan trials!

There are already several Fine Fellows experimenting with time lapse gigapan on their own, such as Craig Miller at Defenders of Wildlife and Alex Smith at the University of Guelph.

Craig Miller has set up several photo-remonitoring points in the Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora to help measure the effectiveness of various landscape treatments. Check out this gigapan taken in June 2008 on the last day livestock were permitted to graze on the land. Compare that with this gigapan taken in September 2009... zoom in to see the improving ground cover in areas with severe terracing and erosion.

Alex Smith has been using GigaPan in some of his classes at the University of Guelph that utilise a local woodlot, the Dairy Bush. He says, "This project involves me shooting the same panorama weekly throughout the year to help classes (that can only access the bush for short periods of time) get an appreciation for the changes that occur in the bush throughout the year." Check out this panorama series or read more in an article published earlier this year [Camera mount gets big picture, smallest details, Guelph Tribune].