The Hon. Bruce E. Chan ’74 reflects on being in the business of second chances
April 29, 2026
Kyle Pellerin ’22 will use his Fulbright Research Award to develop AI- and drone-based tools for sustainable forest management in Slovenia.
BY KATE DUNLOP
Kyle Pellerin ’22, a senior computer science and environmental studies major at Bowdoin College, has been selected for the Fulbright Research Award to work with the Slovenian Forestry Research Institute in Ljubljana for the 2026-27 academic year. This opportunity will allow him to create a GeoAI toolkit that combines mapping software, drone imagery, and AI to enhance forestry management.
Slovenia is Europe’s third-most forested country, with more than 58% of its land covered by forests, and it has a forest management plan dating back to 1771 — the world’s first. Part of its current plan is a countrywide drone-imagery program, coupled with a culture that practices responsible commercial logging — conditions that make it an ideal testing ground for drone-based forestry tools with potential for adaptation in the United States.
Pellerin’s project has three main components: creating an accessible data portal so foresters can use extensive national forest datasets; building computer-vision models to detect bark beetle infestations from drone imagery before they spread; and using lidar (light detection and ranging) to analyze drone data to locate fallen or harvest-ready trees after storms for salvage. Currently, much of this work is done on foot, which is inefficient.
“It’s very exciting, and I am just thrilled and deeply grateful to everyone who supported me throughout the Fulbright application process,” he says.
The Applied Science and Engineering Program (ASEP) gave me the foundational skills to make my own project — to come up with a plan and then go do the work.
— Kyle Pellerin ’22
Pellerin, who grew up in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, has long been drawn to outdoor activities — especially skiing — and spent a semester of his junior year of college in Iceland. There, he built a modeling tool for the Icelandic Forest Service and realized he could trace much of the information he was working with to Slovenia, a country he had visited with his family and enjoyed.
“I’m from a rural place where forests are a huge deal. We tap the maple trees at our house, and we cut down wood for our fireplace,” Pellerin says. “There are a lot of ways you can interact with forest management; people are very willing to tell you what the problems are. Being able to apply my computer science skills and my mapping knowledge is a bonus.”
Mapping may have been new to Pellerin at Bowdoin, but he was well prepared for the academic path he’s forged in college by his time in the Applied Science and Engineering Program (ASEP) at St. Paul’s School.
“ASEP gave me those foundational skills to make my own project — to come up with a plan and then go do the work. That set me up well,” he says. “And having done research and an internship in computer science, that was a valuable experience and opened the door to my enjoyment of doing research. St. Paul’s gives you such a good education, as well as good interpersonal skills and the ability to work with so many different people.”
Next year, Pellerin’s educational and personal interests will converge in Slovenia. Beyond the Fulbright project research, he’ll work with a nonprofit to introduce children to skiing and also assist with English instruction. In the meantime, he’s looking for some classes so he can learn Slovene.
Pellerin conducts field testing in Pine Creek, Montana, hiking into the mountains and camping overnight while evaluting a tool he developed during an internship.
Pellerin explores a rugged, snow-covered landscape in Iceland, where he developed a modeling tool for the Icelandic Forest Service.
