UAF has worked extensively with both institutional and commercial partners in Alaska and in recent years, using drones to monitor sea lion populations in the Aleutian Islands, conduct ice flow and environmental surveying missions for NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, inspect pipelines for oil and gas
giant BP and assist a Russian
tanker during a dangerous late - season
fuel delivery to the remote Alaskan outpost of Nome.
Soon, though, he graduated to filling up
giant, 60,000 - liter
fuel tankers at a ranch called «El Caracol,» connected by buried hose to a pipeline about 3 kilometers away.