News By Date
New Model by LSU Researchers Could Help Predict Gulf of Mexico Hurricanes
CC&E's Paul Miller is part of a team of researchers who have determined a way to forecast rough hurricane seasons in the Gulf of Mexico by looking at atmospheric temperatures in spring.
LSU Nurtures Coastal and Environmental Collaboration in Panama
For years, LSU and its College of the Coast & Environment have nurtured international collaborations with Panama to enable Panamanian industry and government leaders to make informed decisions about the conservation, management, protection and development of coastal and environmental assets.
NSF Awards LSU College of the Coast & Environment Researchers to Determine Climate Change Impacts on Florida Stone Crabs
The LSU College of the Coast & Environment, or CC&E, is leading a team of researchers that has been awarded $922,033 from the National Science Foundation to conduct ground-breaking research to identify how climate change will impact one of Florida’s most iconic fisheries, the Florida stone crab.
Dismukes Presents Draft GHG Inventory to Climate Initiatives Task Force
On July 29, Center for Energy Studies Executive Director and CC&E Professor David Dismukes presented a draft of the updated greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory report to a committee of scientists advising Governor John Bel Edwards' Climate Initiatives Task Force. The report will serve as a starting point to develop strategies for meeting the governor's emission reduction goals.
On Par With the President: Oceanography Nancy Rabalais Confronts the "Dead Zone"
What is the “Dead Zone?” And why is it growing in the Gulf of Mexico? CC&E's Dr. Nancy Rabalais joins LSU President William F. Tate IV to answer these questions; give a behind-the-scenes look at an oceanographer's life both on deck and below; and describe her journey to being elected to the most prestigious scientific society in the U.S., the National Academy of Sciences.
New Research Shows Pandemic Good for Recreational Fishing Due to ‘Social Fishtancing’
Recreational fishing in the U.S. is a hobby that scales up to a multibillion-dollar economic activity. At the beginning of the pandemic last spring as things were shutting down, fisheries science researchers at LSU, U.S. Geological Survey and Clemson University saw the opportunity to study how the pandemic was affecting recreational anglers. “What we found is people still fished and in fact, they fished a little bit more during the pandemic,” said LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Assistant Professor Stephen Midway, who is the lead author of this study that is published in PLOS ONE.
LSU College of the Coast & Environment Receives More Than $8 Million in Sponsored Research Awards
With research and educational programs spanning decades, the LSU College of the Coast & Environment, or CC&E, provides sound, unbiased research that enables leaders to make scientifically-based decisions that improve the lives of individuals and communities while preserving, protecting, and restoring our coast and environment for future generations. In fiscal year 2021, the college received 77 sponsored research awards valued at $8,322,662--a 54 percent increase in dollar value compared to the previous fiscal year.
EPA Appoints CC&E Alumna Cheryl A. Murphy (2006) to Serve on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP)
On August 13, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it appointed two new members, Cheryl A. Murphy, Ph.D., Professor, Director of Center for PFAS Research, Michigan State University, and Veronica J. Berrocal, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Statistics, University of California, to serve on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP). The Chair and one other existing member also were reappointed. These appointments, effective July 30, 2021, were made by the EPA Administrator following nominations provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In Memoriam: James H. Cowan, Jr.
The LSU College of the Coast & Environment mourns and honors the memory of the late James “Jim” Cowan, Jr., Professor & Abraham Distinguished Professor of Louisiana Environmental Studies in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences (DOCS). He died unexpectedly of natural causes on August 11, 2021.
Congratulations to CC&E's Summer Class of 2021!
On August 13, the LSU College of the Coast & Environment awarded degrees to 16 graduates whose hard work and persistence culminated in the day's celebrations.
‘Dead Zone’ Researchers Complete 35th Gulf of Mexico Research Cruise
LSU researchers completed their 35th research cruise this year to collect data on the “Dead Zone” in the northern Gulf of Mexico. LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Professor Nancy Rabalais led a research team that mapped the bottom area of low oxygen in Louisiana coastal waters west of the Mississippi River, which is commonly known as the “Dead Zone,” from July 25 – July 31. LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Assistant Professor Cassandra Glaspie joined the research team as co-chief scientist. The data the team collected suggest that the zone is 6,334 square miles, or 16,400 square kilometers. This is larger than the 4,760 square miles, or 12,330 square kilometers, the researchers had forecasted based on river discharge and nutrient loads in May.
CC&E Alumnae Joins CPRA as a Member of the Master Plan Team
Mady LeBlanc is from Sunshine, Louisiana, and studied Coastal Environmental Science at LSU where she was a Louisiana Service and Leadership (LASAL) Scholar. She recently joined the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) as a member of the Master Plan team.
Coastal Champion: Nancy Rabalais is unstoppable in her pursuit to protect the Gulf of Mexico
For more than three decades, LSU Professor Nancy Rabalais has studied the hypoxic zone, a large region of water in the Gulf of Mexico where oxygen levels are so low that marine organisms cannot survive in it. As a marine ecologist and professor in the LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, Rabalais’ collaborative research has documented and tracked the links between deoxygenation, or hypoxia, in the Gulf of Mexico and agricultural practices that are increasing the amount of harmful nitrogen and phosphorus in the Mississippi River. Her findings have led to federal legislation concerning the diminished water quality.
Three CC&E Students Named Knauss Fellowship finalists
Three graduate students at Louisiana State University (LSU) and one from Loyola University have been named 2022 Knauss Fellowship finalists. At LSU in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Nazla Bushra is a doctoral student who will graduate in August; Elsa Gutierrez is a master’s student who will graduate in May 2022; and Allyson Kristan is a master’s student who will graduate in August.
Protecting Port Fourchon, Louisiana's Energy Industry Hub
LSU College of the Coast & Environment scientists pinpoint how to manage sediment to prevent land loss and improve hurricane preparedness
LSU CC&E Professor Works With Coast Guard On Hurricane Preparedness
In early 2020, LSU Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Navid Jafari received a $180,000 National Science Foundation grant to work alongside Texas A&M University researchers Anand Puppala and Surya Congress and LSU College of the Coast & Environment Professor Nina Lam and students Volodymyr Mihunov and Kejin Wang to find a way to quickly gather infrastructure data after a natural disaster strikes and help emergency operations centers (EOCs) make data-driven decisions that could save lives.
NASA looks at Louisiana delta system, eyes global forecasts
LSU CC&E Professor Robert Twilley and NASA are using high-tech airborne systems combined with sampling in the field to analyze where Louisiana's dwindling deltas have the best hope of recovery and where best to focus restorative resources.
CC&E Student's Internship Experience Featured in 'Fathom' Documentary on Apple TV+
Maggie Knight, an Ogden senior and LASAL Scholar studying coastal environmental science in the College of the Coast & Environment and marine biology the College of Science is a part of a new feature documentary on Apple TV+. Fathom follows Dr. Michelle Fournet and Dr. Ellen Garland as they seek to decipher the complex communication of humpback whales and uncover a culture in the oceans older than humankind. The documentary presents a deeply intimate portrait of science in action.
Scholarship, Stewardship, and the Sea
Charles “Mike” Callais (Business, ‘84) is the product of the great men who came before him. The Callais Scholarship for the Advancement of Louisiana’s Coastal and Marine Industries combines his love of education, desire to serve his community, and respect for the sea—values that were instilled in him by his father and his grandfather. The scholarship will perpetuate his goal to assist his home state in flourishing academically, environmentally, and economically.
Alumni Spotlight: Katie Bowes, Environmental Specialist, Martin County Board of County Commissioners
LSU's College of the Coast & Environment, or CC&E, serves as a critical source for employers throughout Louisiana and the world to recruit knowledgeable and passionate scientists and employees that are in high demand. Katie Bowes (LSU '18) developed an exceptional understanding of the connectivity of wetland and marine science as a result of multiple hands on opportunities she took advantage of while earning her degree from CC&E.
LSU College of the Coast & Environment Celebrates World Oceans Day
The United Nations has designated June 8, 2021, as World Oceans Day, a time to celebrate our oceans and raise awareness of the current challenges they face. While the world celebrates the oceans on this special day, the LSU College of the Coast & Environment, or CC&E, works every day to provide exceptional insights into our oceans that transform research and education on a global stage.
The LSU College of the Coast & Environment Unveils New Leadership in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award
This year the LSU College of the Coast & Environment has unveiled a new award, the Leadership in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award. This award recognizes faculty or staff member or a graduate student who provides leadership and outstanding contributions in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion at the College of the Coast & Environment. Linda Hooper-Bùi, a professor in the LSU Department of Environmental Sciences, was the inaugural recipient.
LSU College of the Coast & Environment Joins Global Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative
For several years, Mark Benfield, a professor in the LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, within the College of the Coast & Environment, has studied this explosion in plastics in our waterways and its impact on the environment. Most recently, he has partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme, National Geographic Society, the University of Georgia--or UGA--and Baton Rouge's Office of the Mayor-President and others as part of MRCTI's mission to combat plastic pollution along one of the world's most vital waterways.
LSU Coast & Environment Professor Receives Lifetime Recognition
LSU Professor Nancy Rabalais LSU Professor Nancy Rabalais is the 2021 recipient of the Wes Tunnell Lifetime Recognition for Gulf Science and Conservation by the Gulf of Mexico University Research Collaborative, or GOMURC, and the second member of the College of the Coast & Environment to receive it. Dean Christopher D'Elia was the inaugural recipient who received it in 2019 at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference. Notably, last year's recipient, Chuck Wilson, worked at LSU for many years and formerly served as the chair of the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences. These three coastal scientists highlight LSU's many contributions to the greater health and prosperity of the Gulf of Mexico.
LSU CC&E Student's Coral Research Earns Prestigious NSF Fellowship
Benjamin Farmer, a doctoral student in the LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, has received a 2021 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, for his research studying stony coral tissue loss disease, a mysterious and fatal coral disease, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.