CC&E Today | August 2018

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CC&E Today | August 21, 2018

Nature Versus Nurture: Evaluating Man-Made Sediment Diversions in Coastal Louisiana

Louisiana’s Comprehensive Coastal Master Plan is a multi-agency collaboration and one of the larger driving forces behind wetland restoration in coastal Louisiana. With any complex enterprise such as this, there are systems in place to measure the effectiveness of its actions. Matthew Hiatt, assistant professor in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at LSU’s College of the Coast & Environment, is doing exactly that.

Researchers Examine Resource Scarcity and Poverty Traps in Coastal Tanzania

LSU is leveraging its expertise to improve coastal and environmental conditions in communities around the world. Experts are working to identify how small, coastal villages in Tanzania get caught in poverty traps, or mechanisms that cause poverty to persist in low-income communities. They are evaluating 13 different villages across the Pangani and Rufiji districts of Tanzania and analyzing the local mangrove ecosystems, including how humans influence and interact with these ecosystems.

CC&E IN THE NEWS

Prospects Are Looking Up for This Gulf Coast Tribe Relocating to Higher Ground-Smithsonian Magazine

Why Louisiana's most progressive tiny town hasn't passed a plastic bag ban yet-The Advocate

Experts say red tide outbreak could also happen in Louisiana-BR Proud

Mapping Blue Carbon in Mangroves Worldwide-ECO Magazine

The Dead Zone of the Gulf of Mexico is as Large as Delaware-WBRZ

Canaries in the Coal Mine: How Birds Indicate the Spread of Bacteria

Birds can serve as a great indicator of the long-term public health impacts of urbanization, especially as deforestation spreads and the human population booms. Birds that nest, hunt, and reproduce in urban areas are a perfect means by which researchers can collect a variety of bacterial samples present in a specific area. This information can then be analyzed and used to predict potential outbreaks of disease. LSU Department of Environmental Sciences Associate Professor Crystal Johnson studies the relationship between birds and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

What Microfossils Can Tell Us About Sea Level Rise

Louisiana State University’s scientists are studying sea level rise from multiple perspectives, using geological data, and current environmental events, to predict how sea level rise will impact coastal regions. Experts from the College of the Coast and Environment (CC&E) are recording what will be the most comprehensive history of mangrove forests in Florida’s Shark River Estuary to date. Kam-biu Liu, oceanography and coastal sciences professor and department chair, believes the geological record is invaluable in demonstrating potential future consequences of sea level rise in coastal Louisiana and South Florida.