John Quigley
John Quigley, BSEVS’22, piloted a drone soaring high above the grassland at the Heron Haven Nature Center in Omaha this past May. Now a recent alumnus, Quigley has found success after graduation thanks to Creighton’s many undergraduate research opportunities.
Q. What are you doing here today?
A. We are collecting drone imagery over a grassland region and then looking at aerial and satellite imagery of that same grassland. We’re studying how landscapes respond to change over time. Our study shows how small-scale changes can be used to determine long-scale changes over time.
Q. How has your research experience been at Creighton?
A. It’s been great in formulating what I want to do for the future. My next step is going into environmental engineering, so this research studying landscape change and ecosystems using remote sensing tools has been ideal.
Q. How easy is it to engage in undergraduate research at Creighton?
A. It has been really easy. I reached out to Dr. (Mary Ann) Vinton in my sophomore year, and I’ve been working with her since. There’s been a lot of opportunity. The hardest part was choosing which project to be involved with.
Q. Are you proud of the research Creighton does?
A. I think it really make a difference. We are working on questions that are left unanswered in literature where we can fill some gaps. At the end of the day, it makes me feel good that we are contributing to answers that actually impact people’s lives.
Q. Do you feel good about how Creighton is preparing you for the future?
A. Definitely. From an educational standpoint, not only am I studying environmental science and biology, but we get philosophy courses, theology courses, other types of science and physics, so I think Creighton has given me a lot of different knowledge bases that I can use in the future.
