Wired for Science: Understanding the feeding habits of mealybug
Fussy children might be frustrating, but fussy mealybugs could help protect the New Zealand wine industry from grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3.
The Hawkes Bay young viticulturist has become a recipient of a 2015 AMP scholarship, worth $10,000.
Rule is one of many who benefitted from the Scholarships, announced late last year.
"Having worked in vineyards capturing data manually, I set out to find a way to use robotic platforms to enhance the accuracy of the datasets," she says. "Teaming up with a technology developing company, we are confident this vision can become a reality."
Brought up in the country Rule says sustainability has always played a major part in how she thinks. She has just completed a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology, minoring in Business Management at Lincoln University and won the Esk Valley Top Viticulture Student award in 2010.
"I want to help preserve precious resources for generations to come as current processes are inaccurate and costly. However, using a drone to provide real time imagery to a cloud based analytics system will allow growers to apply what they need when they need it."
