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By SU Public Relations

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University sophomore Rustin Newbold has always been fascinated by the weather. But even he couldn’t forecast the good news that came his way in late March, when he was selected as a recipient of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

The nation’s preeminent undergraduate academic award in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, the award includes a scholarship up to $7,500 per year to assist in the pursuit of degrees and research.

Until last semester, the geography major from White Hall, MD, was unaware of the scholarship. That is, until his Physics III professor and SU's Goldwater Scholarship representative, Dr. Matthew Bailey, told him his geography and geosciences professors thought he would make a good candidate for the award.

Newbold spent weeks working with Bailey and Drs. Kristen Walton and Sally Perret, director and associate director of SU’s Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office, to put together his winning application.

“It’s all about research,” he said. “It’s for people who want to pursue a career in research. Reading about it, I said, ‘Yeah, that seems like me.’”

For a weather enthusiast like Newbold, a member of SU’s chapter of the American Meteorological Society, the notification of his selection came at a particularly appropriate time.

“I was sitting in my weather class, when all of a sudden I saw Dr. Bailey looking at me through a window going, ‘You won! You won!’”

Judges for the scholarship were drawn to research Newbold currently is conducting in SU’s Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology with Drs. Wataru Morioka and Daniel Harris of the Geography and Geosciences Department. His work is part of a larger “Digital Twin” initiative to create accurate scale 3-D models representing the exterior and interior of SU buildings.

Through “Chasing Shadows,” the project he submitted with his Goldwater application, Newbold uses illumination to test small unmanned aircraft system (SUAS) reconstruction with photogrammetry using drones.

“Different sun angles may or may not improve photogrammetry modeling, and I’m trying to prove or disprove that,” he said. “In other words, imagine you're flying a drone taking pictures in the morning, solar noon, and the evening. When you go to reconstruct the scene, putting all those illumination perspectives together should make a better composite model as each unique illumination reveals more detail than a single time of flight.”

Newbold also is working on a second project for the overall initiative, “Inside Out,” which involves determining an algorithm to efficiently create the “digital twins” (interior and exterior renderings) through strategy and methodology. That project includes skills such as drone mapping, software, coding, and “really cool technology involving 360-degree cameras.”

He sees that research, combined with the Goldwater, as a springboard to his future.

“I’ve loved the weather since I was a kid,” he said. “A more recent development has been my love for geographic information science, which came about in early high school. Now, at SU, I’m forging a path that combines both of them.”

If all goes according to plan, that path will include enrolling in SU’s accelerated M.S. in geographic information systems management en route to a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a focus on geospatial information sciences. Eventually, he hopes to pursue a career involving research in atmospheric remote sensing.

For now, however, he is content continuing to finish his undergraduate degree over the next two years, knowing he has the full support of his professors.

“I was so honored that there were faculty who thought so highly of me to encourage me to apply for the scholarship,” he said. “The fact that I actually received the award out of all the other students who applied across the country still seems unbelievable.”

Students interested in applying for the Goldwater or other nationally competitive fellowships or scholarships should fill out an interest form or email .

Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at the SU website.