Lab News

 

May 16, 2025.  Congratulations to our recent graduates.  Riley graduated Summa Cum Laude with her B.S. in Coastal Environmental Science.  Eloho graduted with her professional Masters in the Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Department.  Well Done and we are excited to see what is next for both !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 28, 2025.  The WABL (above) was front and center at the College of the LSU Coast & Environment Awards Convocation today.  From Left to Right; Ph.D student Lee Potter won the William H. Patrick Wetland Award; Masters student Jey DeWaters won both the Warren Mermilliod Award and the James Gosselink Wetlands Award; Masters student Nico Lonergan won the Student Scholarship Fund Award; Undergradute Katy Aranda won the Candace Chun Memorial Scholarship Award; and Graduating Undergraduate Riley Jenkins was acknowledged for her first place poster and Riley also received word that she was one of two CES students inducted into the  LSU Phi Beta Kappa Society.  We are proud of all their accomplishments.  Also impressive that the students took in over $12,000 collectively ! 

 

April 25, 2025.  Our undergrad all-stars were at it again, Katy (left panel) and Riley (right panel) were presenting their honors thesis research work at the Campus-Wide LSU DISCOVER DAY event held at the student union.  Katy is looking at how black mangrove migration into LA Spartina Marshes is affecting soil properties and water quality function while Riley has been studying how well Dredge Material created wetlands are at improving water quality compared to natural wetlands.

 

April 23, 2025.  Riley (left panel) and Katy (right panel pictured with Dr. Mariotti) presented their undergraduate research at the College of the Coast & Environment Research Symposium today.  Riley, graduating this semester, presented her honors thesis work and won first place.  Katy will continue working on her honors thesis research this summer.  Both are going to present their findings at the campus-wide LSU DIscover Day this Friday !

 

April 25 - May 3, 2025.  CCE Dean Willson and Associate Dean White were invited to travel to Busan, S. Korea to participate in the Our Oceans Conference as well tour the coastline and facilities at Pukyong National University (PKNU).  While there, PKNU and LSU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) based on cooperation and collaboration on coastal issues.  In addition, there was a 4-way MOU signed as well which included 4 countries; PKNU (S. Korea), LSU (USA), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (China) and Federal University of Para (Brazil); all coastal universities impacted by sea level rise, pledging to work together to help solve coastal problems for the globe.

 

 

April 22, 2025.  Dr. White was one of five LSU professors who were honored to be awarded the 2025 LSU Distinguished Faculty Award.  The evening event took place at Jubans Restaurant and included a number of different universtiy-wide awards.

 

 

 

 

April 14, 2025.  Congrats to Katy as LA Sea Grant announced the recipiencts of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).  Katy was awarded a grant of $3,500 to continue her research this summer on black  mangroves replacing Spartina marshes and the impact on the soil properties and the ability of the marsh to provide water quality improvement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2-4, 2025   Drs. Berkowitz and White organized and held the Hydric Soils Workshop for students and professionals on the LSU campus during the second half of Spring Break.  The 2 1/2 day course included half day field trips over to the Mississippi River and to Blue Bonnet Swamp in Baton Rouge, where attendees polished their hydric soil indicator and wetland boundary skills.

 

 

March 12, 2025  The WABL was excited to see Riley defend her undergraduate Honors thesis today.  Her research focused on created marshes biogeochemical properties compared to natural marshes in the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary and was a collaboration with Dr. Quirk's Laboratory.  Congratulations Riley !   Riley is now the third Honor's thesis to be completed in the WABL joining Andy Fontenot and James Anderson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barataria Bay  A curious pod of dolphins check us out as we head out into the field to measure marsh edge erosion. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 17, 2025  After working very long hours all week helping Ph.D. student Lee sample hundreds of water samples from his GEMS experiment, lab members Riley and Nico take a much needed respite !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 5, 2025.  The WABL continues with sampling in the new year !  This time Captain Eddie took out Dr. White, undergrad Katy, and MS students Nico and Eloho sampling down at Port Fourchon.  The team collected soils samples and intact cores from two different marshes; Spartina grass marsh and Black Mangrove tree marsh.. Climate change has allowed Black Mangroves (see picture) to begin replacing Spartina marshes in coastal Louisiana.  Eloho and Katie are conducting research on how this replacement is affecting wetland biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen.  Nico is going to return to the marshes and see how they respond to sediment additions.   Mangroves have not typically been found in Louisiana because they are not tolerant to hard freezes but as the climate continues to warm, they have expanded their range from the tropics into the subtropical northern Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 3, 2025.  The WABL started the new year off right with a trip to the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary to collect intact cores for a storm effect experiment.  Lee will use equipment that will create storm-induced bedload shear on the sediments to see how large wind events increase phosphorus flux into the water column impacting water quality and potentially feeding algal blooms.  Field guide Eddie Weeks captained the boat while undergraduates Riley and Katie assisted Lee with the coring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 19, 2024.  The WABL gathered to celebrate Nico's undergraduate graduation from the Coastal Environmental Science Program.  Nico's family came down from Tennessee to celebrate as well,  After graduation, we migrated over to the CCE building where Nico gave a tour of the lab to his assembled guests and we popped a few bottles of champagne to wash down a tasty red velvet cake.  This day was made extra special for Nico, because he received his diploma for his Birthday!  Nico will start his Masters with the WABL January 2025 working on Thin Layer Dredge Sediment Placement in Wetlands dominated by Black Mangroves.

 

 

November 13, 2024.  Lee was presenting his research at the Society of Wetland Scientists Meeting held in Taipei, Taiwan this November in the special session organized by Drs. White and Corstanje on Big Data in the Environment.  The conference had 500 attendees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 1, 2024.  The WABL participated in the Annual Ocean Commotion where thousands of youngsters descend on the LSU campus to learn all about the environment.  The WABL featured terrestrial vs wetland soils, coring in the mud, a demonstration on water quality improvement and a global C cycling discussion.  Clockwise from Top left panel; Lee, Nico and Alumni Jacob field questions from the students, top right; Lee and Riley demonstrate coring technique (actually playing in the mud) while Nico checks his cores.  Bottom right, Katie is explaining where all the carbon comes from in the atmosphere, and bottom left; Jey answers questions from the students.  Everyone enjoyed the chaos !

 

 

 

 

 

October 17-18, 2024.  The LSU College of the Coast & Environment hosted the Society of Wetland Scientists South Central Chapter Meeting with Adjunct LSU Faculty member, Dr. Jacob Berkowitz organizing the meeting.  The event was highlighted by an evening reception of food and drink at the LSU Center for River Studies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 18, 2024  WABL undergraduate Riley Jenkins won First Place Poster at the SWS South Central Chapter Meeting and received a $700 cash award for her efforts. Ph.D. student Lee Potter received the second place Oral Presentation Award, which also included a cash award.

 

 

 

 

 

September 2024.  Lee continued to sample the Lake Pontchartrain estuary, here sectioning sediment cores with alumni Jacob.  You can just make out the tall buildings of the city of New Orelans in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

August 28, 2024.  The WABL is excited to welcome a new refrigerated, high speed centrifuge to the laboratory.  The former one lasted an amazing 22 years but has now been retired.   Technology has come along way in the past few decades, no longer physical switches but a high tech touch screen and much smaller unit !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 18, 2024.  Nico and Riley are sectioning Lake P estuary cores to determine the vertical distribution of phosphorus in the sediments.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 25, 2024.  Drs. Miller and White were interivewed for WVLA/WGMB (BrProud) media outlet about hurricane impacts.  The story is located here

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 15, 2024.  Lee had his team out on the Lake Pontchartrain estuary with a very early start to beat the heat.  We collected 20+ cores and also retrieved 6 porewater equilibrators aka peepers.  Riley is pictured on the lower right pulling the samples out with syringes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 9-13, 2024.  Lee presented his preliminary work at the Soil Science Society of America Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  It was a good, interactive conference though it was quite hot.

 

 

 

 

 

May 17, 2024. Jacob graduated today with his Masters degree in Oceanography & Coastal Sciences and James graduated today with his B.S. degree in Coastal Environmental Science and an undergraduate honors thesis.  They have a combined 10 years working in the WABL and their expertise and comradery will be missed.  James will begin a Ph.D. at Florida State in August.  Jacob is interviewing for consulting jobs here in Louisiana.

 

 

 

May 15, 2024.  Jacob is excited about graduation this Friday, but even more excited to place his abstract on the WABL "Wall of Achievement".  This is a special honor reserved for students who have submitted their manuscripts to a journal. Excellent Job !  This is the second time for Jacob, as he submitted his undergraduate research for publication a few years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 9, 2024.  The WABL got a bit of an upgrade today.  Thanks to Field Technician Eddie Weeks, we now have lots more storage and no longer have the leaning tower of coolers perched on top of the refrigerators.

 

 

 

 

April 26, 2024.  The WABL was well-represented at the College Convocation today.  Ph.D. student Lee Potter won the William H. Patrick, Jr award for Wetland Biogeochemistry, undergraduate researcher Katy Aranda won the Candice Chun Memorial Scholarship, and Dr. White was awarded the Dean's Outstanding Service Award along with Melanie Spinks, for their teamwork on assisting the faculty who collectivley broke the grants funding records for the college this year with several months remaining.  Also mentioned was James Anderson, who previously was given his award certificate for the CES undergraduate poster competition that was held last week. 

 

 

 

April 19, 2024.  Jacob Cheng is pictured with his Environmentors high school mentee, Kimani Shropshire from Scotlandville Magnet High School. The Environmentor students participated at the LSU Discover Day, a university wide research symposium.  Kimani won a trip to Washington D.C. to present her work at the National Environmentors Conference.  This was Jacob's second year volunteering as a research mentor in the College's Environmentors Program.  Well done to both of you ! 

 

 

April 17th and April 19th, 2024.  Graduating undergraduate researcher, James Anderson, presented his Honors Thesis work at the College of the Coast & Environments undergraduate research symposium and two days later, presented at the University-wide research LSU Discover Day.  James received cash prizes for both events for placing in the top 3 poster presentations.  Undergraduate researcher Riley Jenkins presented her preliminary Honor's thesis work at the College's at the college research symposium, as well.  Well Done !

 

April 12, 2024.   Drs. Paul Miller and John White were interviewed on camera by the show "This Week In Louisiana Agriculture" regarding the projections for 11 named storms for the Atlantic Hurricane Season and the potential impacts for coastal wetland erosion"  Watch HERE and the operative section is between 8:26 and 10:44 timestamps.

 

 

 

April 1, 2024.  Congratulations to James Anderson for defending his undergraduate honors thesis today entitled "Hurricanes and Harmful Algal Blooms: Assessing the Legacy P Role in Linking These Events Through a Lake Pontchartrain Estuary Case Study".   His committee included Drs. White, Hiatt and Bargu all from the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and Dr. Wilson from the Department of Environmental Sciences.  The defense included an open presentation lasting about 25 minutes followed by the closed door defense.  We look forward to James' first draft of his publication before he graduates in May. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2024  We are thankful to Robert for sharing his picture with Louisiana Senator  Bill Cassidy, M.D.  whose office he is assigned to for his NOAA-funded, year long Knauss Fellowship.   Also, we received word today that Robert's first manuscript from his Masters was accepted for publication by Science of the Total Environment.  The paper is titled "Impact of Freshwater River Reconnection on Porewater Salinity and Ammonium Availability in Coastal Brackish Marsh Soils" and becomes WABL manuscript 130!  Congratulations !  There is a paucity of research conducted on coastal freshening, making this paper a critical contribution to the scientific literature, despite the reviewer making us remove the word "paucity" from the text because they felt it was too hard a word to understand.

 

 

 

March 13-15, 2024 Drs. Berkowitz and White organized the 2024 LSU Hydric Soils Identification Workshop during the last part of Spring Break.  Attendees were practitioners from the private sector, state government and included several LSU students.  The 2 1/2 day workshop included classroom instruction on hydric soils indicators as well as two field exercises in describing hydric soils and identifying the hydric soils wetland boundary.

 

 

 

 

March 8, 2024  Jacob Cheng successfully defended his Masters Thesis entitled "The Impacts of Nature-Based Sediment Restoration Practices on Coastal Wetland Soil Biogeochemistry".  His committee included Dr. Jacob Berkowitz and Dr. Matt Hiatt in addition to Dr. White.  Jacob is eagerly preparing his two draft publications to be submitted before graduation this May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 21, 2024  The Coastal Studies Institute at LSU turned 70 years old today!  We celebrated with a party at the WWII museum in New Orleans.  The AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting was ongoing in New Orleans so we had many alumni come to the event.  Pictured with Dr. White is Dr. Emily Smith who works for NOAA in DC and worked with the WABL on Lake P estuary research, Dr. Larry Rouse, former DOCS department chair and now retired faculty member and Robert Feder, who graduated from the WABL in 2023 and is doing a Knauss Fellowship in Congress, Washington DC.

 

 

 

February 20, 2024  The Lake P estuary has officially been completely sampled by Lee and his team.  It took 5 all-day trips to get all 160 stations for the 0-5 and 5-10 cm sediment depths.  With replicates, this comes to about ~350 total samples . . . and now comes the hard work of processing all the samples. 

 

 

 

 February 7, 2024  Ph.D stuent Lee, and yes he has only one field shirt, was once again dragging folks out on the Lake Pontchartrain estuary.  The left panel shows stalward captain Eddie watching Lee manipulate the coring device that he built, which requires no piston.  The right panel show Lee and Jacob sectioning sediment into 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm sections.  This was trip 4 of 5 to evantually collect sediment from 160 stations to eventually complete a sediment map of the estuary.  This map will be the basis for more detailed research focused on nutrient triggers leading to harmful algal blooms.

February 1, 8, 2024  Riley ventured out twice, to the wetlands along the northeast part of Lake Pontchartrain estuary with Dr. Quirk's field group to collect soils from a  dredge-material created wetland site as well as a nearby natural marsh.  For the OCS3999, Supervised Research Class, she will be characterizing the soils for various physiochemical characteristics.  For her Honor's thesis research, Riley will be conducting core flux experiments examining Nitrogen flux.

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 7-11, 2024  Dr White presented at the 11th BIOGEOMON International Symposium on Ecosystem Behavior held at the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus.  The presentation included some of Mercedes Pinzon's Masters work on nitrogen cycling in the face of a river diversion.  We have been invited to submit this work to a special issue of Biogeochemistry. The submission is Due June 1, so Mercedes is balancing her research for her Ph.D. at UCF while working with the WABL to get this paper submitted. 

 

 

 

December 15, 2023  Congratulations to Kate Landholm on her graduation with her undergraduate degree in Coastal Environmental Science.  Kate has been a fixture in the lab for 3 years and we look forward to hearing which graduate program in Coastal Policy she will be attending for her Masters Degree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 5, 2023  The WABL crew was back at it on the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary. This time Lee brought along Jacob to assist with coring and sectioning while boat captain Eddie steered a true course.  40% completed for the 160 station mapping of the sediments.  It was cold but nice flat water for coring.  The team posed with their newly issued College of the Coast & Environment T shirts (bottom right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 18, 2023.  The WABL was out sampling the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary today as part of Lee's Ph.D. research.  He brought along trusty undergraduate researchers Riley and Sam to assist sectioning the cores.  We managed to hit 30 stations out of the eventual 160 stations.  Lee (left panel) was glad to try out field expert, Eddie Weeks, new design corer which doesn't require a piston, a remarkable technological step forward in field work!

October 25, 2023.  The WABL, represented by Lee, Riley, Jacob, James and Kate (missing from picture as she had to run off to class) presented to almost 2000 youngsters at the annual LSU Ocean Commotion at the PMAC.  They discussed the elegance of wetland soils and how important the carbon in soils is  for regulating water quality, for microbial energy and making mudpies !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 18, 2023.  Jacob Cheng and Riley Jenkins represented the WABL at the College of the Coast and Environment's undergraduate Research Fair today at LSU.  They described how wetlands were important for improving water quality and storing carbon as well as talking with potential undergraduate researchers, how their own experiences conducting research has helped shape their career goals. 

 

 

 

 

 

September 4, 2023.  Dr. White was interviewed by Yale Climate Connections at this year's state of the coast on coastal wetland loss.  Feel free to click HERE to hear the <2 minute elevator speech and click HERE to see the accompany web article.

August 11, 2023.  Robert Feder and Mercedes Pinzon both graduated with their MS degrees today.   Their research will help Louisiana manage the nearly 3 billion dollar coastal restoration river diversion operations.  Mercedes has relocated to Orlando, FL where she has joined the laboratory of Dr. Lisa Chambers in pursuit of a Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida.  Robert will be moving soon to Washington DC where he will begin a year-long paid Knauss Fellowship funded by NOAA working with Policymakers in Congress on Environmental Issues.  They will be missed but we are excited for their new adventures ahead !

 

 

 

 

July 18, 2023.  Dr. White was in London again assisting with the Study Abroad Program where undergraduates from LSU spend a month learning about Urban Sustainability and Urban Water Resources.  We visited Cranfield University which does research on improving wastewater performance and is working on the "airport of the future" among other attractions including "The living lab" and the National Soil Survey archive for the UK.  Special thanks to Dr. Ron Corstanje and Dr. Jim Harris for hosting us.

 

June 22, 2023  Robert sucessfully defended his Master's thesis research entitled "Effects of coastal freshening on porewater chemistry and nutrient availability in brackish marsh soils: Implications for biogeochemical resilience in Barataria Basin, LA". This research is critical for improving environmental models to better predict what will happen to our coastal marsh vegetation species when we reconnect them with the Mississippi River through a Sediment Diversion, currently under construction.  Next up for Robert is working on submitting his research papers and graduation on August 11, 2023.  Robert has received word that he has received a one year Knauss fellowship from NOAA in Washington DC and will begin in early February 2024.  Congratulations !

 

June 16, 2023  Mercedes successfully defended her Master's thesis research entitled "Impact of Sediment Diversion for Coastal Restoration on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Biogeochemical Cycling in Coastal Louisiana, USA".  This research is critical for improving modeling for the impact on water quality when we reconnect the coastal marshes with the Mississippi River through a Sediment Diverson, currently under construction.  Next up for Mercedes is working on submitting her research papers and graduation on August 11, 2023.  Mercedes will be joining Dr. Lisa Chambers laboratory at the University of Central Florida to pursue a Ph.D. after graduation.  Congratulations !!  She is excited to work on a new coastal system, the Indian River Lagoon.

 

 

 

June 13-15, 2023  Drs. White and Hiatt were invited to attend a DOE on-site review panel at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland.  The site has impressive real time data collections for forests and coastal wetlands.  This trip has inspired Drs. Hiatt and White to start building a wetland porewater sensor network in coastal Louisiana.  We have acquired over $30,000 in funding from LA Seagrant, NOAA and NSF to start building our sensor network, with 5 purchased and 10 more on order. 

 

 

June 6-7, 2023  Drs. White and Li were invited to attend a NOAA-sponsored workshop in Biloxi, MS aimed at setting up a Habitat Focus Area spanning the LA and MS coastlines that are affected from episodic flood releases from the Mississippi River through the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary out into Mississippi Sound.  We are hopeful this could become the first NOAA-HFA in the Gulf Coast.

 

June 1, 2023  Both Mercedes and Robert presented oral presentations and poster presentations at the State of the Coast Conference in New Orleans, LA outlining their research importance on the impact of Sediment River Diversions for the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan.  The college wrote a story about their research located  HERE  

 

 

 

 

Summer 2023  James spent the summer on a paid internship at the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program in Fairbanks, Alaska.  The picture is from a tunnel dug into the permafrost by the USACE where James had the opportunity to examine frozen carbon from tens of thousands of years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 26, 2023  The WABL was out on the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary collecting cores for James' and Kate's undergraduate research project.  They plan to investigate the relative amounts of P released through normal estuarine conditions vs when a large storm comes through.  Lee came along to help out piston coring and to get a first hand look at his study site. 

March 16-18, 2023  Both DOCS Adjunct Faculty Member Dr. Jacob Berkowitz and  Dr. White hosted a Hydric Soils Identification and Delineation Workshop at LSU for consultants and graduate students.  This 2 1/2 day course combines classroom teaching with hands on field work identifying the hydric soils indicators for our Land Resource Regions while also learning about indicators used in other parts of the country.  Here we are down by the Mississippi River levee identifying hydric soils indicators.

 

February 16, 2023  Dr. White's Wetlands and Water Quality (Service-Learning) class visited Iberville Math, Science, Arts Academy to talk with the high school students about succeeding in college and different STEM jobs.  These high school students will mostly be first-generation college students and this was a great opporunity for the LSU students (Team Duckweed in the picture on the left) to share what they have learned thus far in their academic journey.  This was the 9th  out of 10 years (no visit in pandemic year) that we have visited with the high school students and we have valued our decade long relationship with the school and teacher Ms Mary Ellen Day. 

February 12, 2023  While the rest of the world was preparing for the Super Bowl, The WABL was hard at work in Barataria Bay collecting marsh cores for Jacob's and Robert's Salinity freshening experiment.  It was a chilly start but a beautiful boat ride out and back from Myrtle Grove and we did make it back in time for the game !  The picture on the far left depict Kate working dilligently hammering in core tubes while Jacob supervises.  The picture on the right shows James and Dr. White setting up more cores for hammering in. 

February 2, 2023  HAPPY WORLD WETLANDS DAY !!!  The College wrote a story highlighting some of the College's recent wetlands research.  The story is located  HERE The Picture is a blast from the past, Dr. White circa 1991 with his MS advisor Dr. Parkinson, from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL after battling red mangroves all day in St Lucie County, Florida.

January 2023 - The WABL enters a new semester and a new year.  Due to the pandemic and other associated factors, we have a backlog of  papers which we are seeking to get out the door and get published.  The WABL will try and "catch up" this year with a goal of 14 published papers in 2023, breaking the previous record of 13 papers in one year set in 2012.  The problem with doing great science and not getting it published is that no one ever knows what you did.  We are well on our way with 3 papers published/accepted, 2 in revision and 3 more in review.   We look forward to submitting papers by Jacob, Mercedes, Robert and James in the coming months. 

November 25, 2022 - The College of the Coast & Environment had its Awards Convocation after long last.  Pictured are from left to right, undergraduate researcher, Kate Landholm - winner of the Anne Atherton Adrian Endowed Scholarship; Graduate student Jacob Cheng winner of the Warren "Whip" Mermilliod Scholarship; Graduate student Mercedes Pinzon; winner of the Joseph Lipsey Sr Memorial Award and the William H. Patrick Jr. scholarship for wetlands expertise, Missing from photo:  Former Ph.D. student Yadav Sapkota,  who won the College of the Coast & Environmental Outstanding Dissertation Award and Graduate student Robert Feder who won the William H. Patrick Jr. scholarship for wetlands expertise.  Congrats to all the WABL members  for winning a collective $12,000+ in scholarship awards.

November 12, 2022 - The WABL's recent published research was highlighted today in the local paper as support for the planned coastal restoration projects to help slow wetland loss in the MIssissippi River Delta.  The article is located HERE

November 6-9, 2022 - More Awards  A few members of the WABL headed to Baltimore, Md. to attend the Soil Science Society of America International Annual Conference.  Both Mercedes and Robert presented their Masters research results in a Rapid 5 minute oral presentation followed by a poster session later that afternoon.   Congratulations to both, as Mercedes won 2nd place in the Student competion for Wetland Soils and Robert won 3rd place, both with cash prizes !! 

Alumni Update:  Dr. Havalend Steinmuller is taking a faculty position at Dauphin Island Sea Lab in January 2023,  where she will be an assistant professor with University of South Alabama.  Havalend will be the Fourth WABL Alumni to take a faculty position joining Dr. Jeremy Conkle (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), Dr. Lisa Chambers (Univ. of Central Florida) and Dr. Eric Roy (Univ. of Vermont).

October 2022  The WABL received a number of graduate student college awards.  From left to right; Jacob Cheng received the Warren "Whip" Mermilliod Scholarship;  Mercedes Pinzon received the Joseph Lipsey, Sr. Memorial Scholarship Award and the William H. Patrick, Jr., Scholarship for Wetlands Expertise and Robert Feder was awarded the William H. Patrick, Jr., Scholarship for Wetlands Expertise.  Congratulations to All !!!  The list of all the college awards is located HERE

 

 

 

 

October 21, 2022  Mercedes and James traveled out to Barataria Bay to collect 40+ cores for her research on how sediment diversions will affect Phosphorus cycling.  (left) The sign in the background warns of a channel being dredged to bury a new natural gas pipeline in support of the plaquemines Liquidfied Natural Gas export facility which will export 20 million metric tonnes per year, so the folks up north can stay warm in the winter. (right) Mercedes instructs James' on coring technique.

 

October 19, 2022.  Mercedes, James and Kate were on hand with Jacob and Robert to try and recruit undeclared undergraduate majors to the Coastal Environmental Science Program at the College open house.  They were enthusiastic in explaining why wetland soil is so important.

October 13, 2022.  Mercedes, Kate and James all ventured out on to the Mississippi River down at Mardi Gras Pass.  This is place where the levee was breached by the river.  The team was sampling for Mercedes experiment in the delta, now being formed as a result of the levee breach.  This sediment will be placed on marsh cores to replicate the impact of a sediment diversion on N and P cycling.

October 3,  2022.  Congratulations to Jacob Cheng for getting his undergraduate research entitled "Dredge-Material Created Coastal Marshes Are More Effective at Improving Water Quality Than Natural Marshes in Early-Stage Development" accepted for publication in Ecological Engineering.

September 25, 2022.  Robert led his team out to Barataria Bay to collect soil for his research experiment #2 which will investigate the effects of salinty changes on microbial processes.  It was hot, but a real nice boat ride.  We also ran around and set more erosion poles in the marsh in preparation for hurricane season.

September 23, 2022.  Drs. Rabalais and White were honored by LSU President Tate and the Boyd Professors for their recent awards at a dinner reception along with 7 other faculty from across the LSU system.  The lsu story is located here.

July 6 - August 1, 2022 - Dr. White was in London, UK co-teaching a study abroad class on Urban Sustainability with faculty Members, Drs. Pardue, Willson and Kees from LSU Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Thanfully, It was much cooler in London compared to Louisiana in the dead of summer!

Summer 2022 - James was awarded a DOE Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship and spent the summer at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.  We look forward to his return when he starts his Honors Thesis research on Phosphorus in Lake Pontchartrain linked to Harmful Algal Blooms this fall.

June 15, 2022 - Robert successfully collects 24 cores from a brackish marsh in Barataria Bay to impose a freshwater pulse to mimic the river diversion currently under construction. 

May 28th, 2022 - Mercedes and her WABL team traveled out to Barataria Bay to collect 48 soil cores for her Masters laboratory study on Nitrogen Cycling. I think this is a WABL coring record for one trip!  The picture below is a wide angle of the marsh to the right and open water to the left.

May 24, 2022 - Mercedes went sampling at Mardi Gras Pass, a break in the natural levee of the Mississippi River down south of New Orleans, LA.  This sediment will be used to replicate the river diversion placement of mineral sediment over the organic marsh soil, once the river and marsh are connected.

May 28, 2022 - Alumni Update,  Alina Spera measuring water quality through the ice in the Arctic as part of her Ph.D. research at UTEP.

May 4, 2022 - Congrats to Robert who received a travel award from the Coastal Environmental Graduate Organization at LSU to be used for the Soil Science Society of America Meeting to be held in Baltimore in November 2022.   He just found out that the department will match the travel funds ! 

April 28, 2022 - And the Awards Keep Coming for the WABL !  Mercedes Pinzon was awarded the 2022 Louisiana Coast, Ocean, Ports, Rivers Institute (COPRI) scholarship for $500 !  She attended the meeting in New Orleans, LA to collect her cash prize.  In addition, our undergraduate researcher, James Anderson won the undergraduate scholarship for $500 !  Congrats to you both !       

April 27, 2022 - The Lab received another honor today. Dr. White was the recipient of the National Wetlands Award for Research, awarded by the Environmental Law Institute.  Full details can be found by clicking here. and the LSU story is located here.  No other university has won more than 1 of these awards, except for LSU, where Dr. White is the 6th recipient, all from the College of the Coast & Environment!  The College's wetlands program rules !

April 22, 2022 - James did an excellent job presenting his research as an oral presentation at the LSU University-wide Undergraduate Research Forum entitled "Nutrient Dynamics in Deltaic Wetlands: Implications for Restoration Designed for Saving the Louisiana Coast".  He will be working on submitting the manuscript this summer.

April 20, 2022 - James (left panel) and Jacob (right panel) were both presenting their undergraduate research posters at the College of the Coast and Environment Undergraduate Research Symposium to a captive audience.  Well Done ! 

April 18, 2022 - Congratulations to Mercedes who has won a scholarship  from the the New Orleans Town Gardeners Club for $2,500.  Mercedes looks forward to going to New Orleans to talk about how her research will benefit the people and environment of LA.

 

February 23, 2022 - Field technician extraordinaire, Eddie Weeks, is demonstrating piston coring in the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary while James waits eagerly for the appearance of the sediment core.

January 17, 2022 - Undergraduate researchers, James and Jacob collecting cores for research on nitrogen and phosphorus flux in both newly created and established delta wetland soils.  James will present at LSU Discover Day, a research symposium highlighting undergraduate research, to be held on April 22, 2022.

December 17, 2021 - Yadav proudly accepts his Ph.D. diploma at the College graduation ceremony celebrating with his family.  Yadav finished his Ph.D. in less than 4 years and published 5 papers before graduation. Well Done !

December 13-17, 2021.  Masters students, Mercedes (left) and Robert (right) attending the American Geophysical Union Meeting in New Orleans, LA.

October 30, 2021 - Master's students Robert (left) and Mercedes (right) were out in Barataria Bay, LA collecting wetland soil cores for their research.  Fun in the mud.

June 14, 2021—Undergraduate researcher James Anderson braved the heat in Barataria Bay to collect water samples for DIC and nutrients as part of our RAPID:NSF grant on hurricane impacts to coastal wetlands.

June 11, 2021—Alumni Update - Former WABL member, Katie Bowes, was the subject of an Alumni Highlight on the LSU College of the Coast & Environment. We are excited to see Katie using her WABL experience to affect positive environmental change. Read more.

June 8, 2021—The College wishes everyone a Happy World Oceans Day !! Read all about our oceanographic research.

May 11, 2021—Yadav has started his internship/trainingship today in Vicksburg, MS with the US Army Corp of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).

May 8, 2021—Congratulations to Erol who graduated Saturday with his Masters in Coastal and Ecological Engineering. He has earned the proud designation as WABL grad student #32. Erol will start working next month as an Engineer for the LA Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in Baton Rouge, LA in support of Lousiana’s 50 billion dollar coastal restoration plan.

April 2021—Alumni Update - Former WABL member, Alina Spera, is back from a trip to the Arctic (Beaufort Lagoons Ecosystem LTER) where she is working on her Ph.D. at UTEP on research on climate change impacts on carbon/nutrient cycling at coastal margins.

April 15, 2021—Congrats to undergraduate researcher Jacob Cheng who was awarded first place at LSU Discover Day in Our College Division for his presentation entitled “Effects of Internal Loading on Nitrate Reduction Rates in Created vs Natural Coastal Marshes: Implications for River Reconnection." Jacob also received an award for one of the most visited posters at the 13th International Symposium on Biogeochemistry of Wetlands in March of this year. Next stop – manuscript. Read more about the Discover Day award.
 

 

The Lab was recently awarded a Coastal Sciences Assistantship for 2021-2024 for support of a Masters student (Robert Feder, B.S. UF, starting Fall ’21) to focus on research needs in support of the LA coastal Master Plan (summary description at left provided by LA SeaGrant.)
 

March 22-25, 2021—We are closing in on the start of the 13th International Symposium on Biogeochemistry of Wetlands Conference that Dr. White is organizing. Original plan was to hold conference in Baton Rouge in 2020 but the pandemic caused plans to go virtual and in 2021. We hope you can join us for some interesting wetland research from around the globe.

March 5, 2021—Congrats to Erol who successfully defended his thesis entitled “Changes in wetland soil processes and ecosystem functions six years after marsh creation in Barataria Bay, Louisiana”. Well Done !

February 15, 2021. Congrats to Yadav for being awarded The Nepalese Student Association of LSU Outstanding Student Award for 2020. Keep up the good work!

February 2, 2021—Happy World Wetlands Day. The College of the Coast and Environment celebrates World Wetlands Day by describing some of the important research the College has conducted in recent years. Read more about World Wetlands Day

Laura’s paper on “The impact of recently excavated dredge pits on coastal hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico shelf “has been recently published in Marine Environmental Research. Congrats !

December 8 , 2020—MP’s and Yadav’s manuscript entitled “Investigating the Impact of in situ Soil Carbon Degradation Through Porewater Spectroscopic Analyses on Marsh Edge Erosion” has been accepted by Chemosphere. This work was a collaboration with M.P. Hayes from Dr. Cook’s group in the Department of Chemistry and our group in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences. Congrats to all!

November 2, 2020—The WABL was awarded an NSF-RAPID grant entitled ” Waiting to Exhale: Quantifying Tropical Storm-Induced Increased Flux of Coastal Wetland Carbon into the Atmosphere” to study the effects of far-field vs direct impact hurricanes on C dynamic in Barataria Bay, LA. in collaboration with Dr. George Xue. The photos here were taken November 1, 2020 depicting large swathes of marsh torn off by direct strike 85 mph winds of Hurricane Zeta also showing stranded marsh fragments in the bay. (lower right) Our new undergraduate researcher, James, is helping Ph.D. student Yadav reset his erosion poles.

 

 

October 27, 2020—Yadav placed his abstract on the WABL “Wall of Achievement” of the paper submitted to Chemosphere entitled ” Investigating the Impact of in situ Soil Carbon Degradation Through Porewater Spectroscopic Analyses on Marsh Edge Erosion” in collaboration with M.P. Hayes from Dr. Cook’s group in the Department of Chemistry. This is the 11th paper from our current NSF collaborative grant.

 

 

 

 

Coastal Louisiana has taken it on the chin this Hurricane Season (2020) with a plethora of named storms crisscrossing the state. Hurricane Zeta roared right through our study area, green rectangle (map courtesy of collaborator Dr. George Xue).

 

 

 

 

September 14, 2020—The College of the Coast & Environment published a story about researchers working on hurricane issues. The WABL's recent work on hurricane induced coastal wetland erosion was included. 

September 11, 2020—The WABL was recently featured in an article by National Geographic entitled “How powerful hurricanes hasten the disappearance of Louisiana’s wetlands."

September 5, 2020—Congrats to Yadav! His most recent paper documenting higher carbon stocks deep in the coastal wetland profile susceptible to erosion and mineralization to CO2 was made available online today, though officially will be a publication in 2021.

August 30, 2020—Yadav visited his coastal wetland erosion sites in Barataria Bay to investigate if the passage of nearby but not direct strike storms Marco and Laura had an impact on the marsh erosion rates. Preliminary data suggests that the erosion rate was more than 40 times the normal rate for both storms.

July 12, 2020—Erol made a foray out to the Lake Hermitage Marsh Creation Project, now ~6 years since construction. His goal is to determine the trajectory of wetland ecosystem processes recovery compared to a natural marsh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 9, 2020—Congrats to Peter who successfully defended his thesis by Zoom entitled “Phosphorus Variability in the Area of Influence of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion” Peter has earned the designation of WABL Graduate student #31 . Peter is now employed by ENCOS Environmental and Coastal Services, a Baton Rouge-based environmental consulting company focused on
Environmental, Compliance, Coastal Services, and Industrial Hygiene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 18, 2020—Congrats to Alina! Her first master's manuscript was published in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Sciences after an excruciating-long review process of seven months. Good things come to those who wait. This research was carried out with Dr. Corstanje’s environmental and agricultural informatics groups at Cranfield University, UK.

March 2, 2020—Congrats to Laura who successfully defended her thesis entitled “Sediment Biogeochemistry of Dredge Pits in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Shelf.” Laura is moving to the “Sunshine State” where she has been hired by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at FAU.

WABL Hits Manuscript 100 !—The lab just hit a significant milestone in 2020. Manuscript 100 was just published! This accomplishment is due to all the hardworking students and great collaborators who have helped build our wetlands program over the years. Perhaps fitting that manuscript 100 includes 3 former students and one current student as co-authors.

Citation: Steinmuller, H.E., M.P. Hayes, N.R. Hurst, Y. Sapkota., R. Cook, J.R. White, Z. Xue, L.G. Chambers. 2020. Does Edge Erosion Alter Coastal Wetland Soil Properties? A Multi-Method Biogoechemical Study. Catena. 187:104373

November 13, 2019—Congratulations to our PhD student Yadav Sapkota for being selected as a finalist from the wetland soil division of the International Soil Science Society of America meeting held in San Antonio. Yadav won the third place cash award for 5-minute oral and poster presentation in the society-wide competition. #WABL #Bluecarbon #GeauxYadav

October 24, 2019—Dr. Cook’s and Dr. Xue’s Lab joined the WABL in Welcoming Baton Rouge Area students to “Ocean Commotion," a LA SeaGrant sponsored event which engages students on environmental issues relevant to their lives along one of the most dynamic coastlines in the world. The panel at the left show various student groups learning about soil carbon and creating artwork entitled “Carbon Handprints and Fingerprints."

September 15, 2019—Yadav posted his recently accepted paper on the WABL Wall of Achievement, "Carbon offset market methodologies applicable for coastal wetland restoration and conservation in the United States: A review," in Science of the Total Environment. Congrats!

August 2, 2019—Congratulations to Alina Spera on her graduation with her master's degree. Alina’s research was the first temporal and spatial analysis of a large river diversion in Louisiana on coastal wetland soil properties. This project provides valuable information to the state on future operation of the surface water diversions and new restoration efforts. She sets off to work on her PhD looking at climate change in the Arctic with Dr. Lougheed at UTEP.

May 31. 2019—Congrats to Jessica! Her first master's manuscript was published in Science of the Total Environment. This paper was written in collaboration with Dr. Ehab Meselhe from Tulane University.

May 10, 2019—Congratulations to Jessica Vaccare on her master's degree for her research on quantifying water quality ecosystem services in coastal wetlands affected by erosion. Jessica has accepted a job and is in Florida working for an environmental consulting company.

December 14, 2018—Congratulations to Katie Bowes on graduating with her master's for research on impact of surface water temperature on resulting water quality function of wetland soil and submerged sediments. Katie is working in East Central Florida for Martin County, in the Ecosystem Restoration and Coastal Engineering Division.