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| SC&E's
Mission |
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LSU’s School of the Coast and Environment exists
to provide knowledge, technology, and human resources for
successful management of natural resources and resolution
of environmental issues important to Louisiana, the Gulf
of Mexico region, and comparable areas throughout the nation
and the world.
To accomplish its mission,
SC&E works to restore barrier islands, improve hydrology
in salt, brackish, and freshwater marshes, protect fish
and shellfish for commercial and sports use, provide first
warning capability against devastating storms, and effect
environmental remediation, to name just a few of our important
research initiatives. Our academic programs train tomorrow’s
scientists, managers, and policymakers.
Louisiana’s
fragile coast and environment are in danger.
The state loses 25–35 square miles of coastal wetlands
every year. Stabilizing this disappearing resource and maintaining
it as one of the most productive natural areas in the world
are key to Louisiana’s future. Without its wetlands,
Louisiana would be a far different place than what we know
today. In conjunction with the coastal barrier islands in
the Gulf of Mexico, our wetlands—the largest of their
kind in the United States—represent the first line of
defense against the destructive forces of hurricanes and severe
storms. Louisiana’s coastal environment is a center
for oil and gas exploration and infrastructure. A significant
part of the world’s rice and sugarcane is grown in this
area. Our coastal environment also supports one of the world’s
most important fisheries, accounting for 40 percent of the
nation’s seafood harvest. More than 70 percent of the
commercial species caught in the Gulf of Mexico are dependent
on wetlands during all or some portion of their life cycles.
Added to this mix, 70 percent of the people who call Louisiana
home live within the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico.
Protecting this legacy is SC&E’s
mission. The relationship between coastal
wetlands and primary and secondary production; fisheries
nursery ground functions; water filtration and nutrient
uptake; and storm-surge buffering are just some of the research
areas that SC&E scientists and students explore and
study. Important remedial action includes managing the flow
of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers; building wetlands
by introducing freshwater into the northern reaches of the
coastal marshes; and rebuilding the barrier islands that
absorb the impact of hurricanes and other severe storms.
Fundamental to the success of these projects is understanding
the Gulf of Mexico itself—ocean currents and eddies,
life cycles, productivity, and weather patterns. The freshwater
and sediment loads of the Mississippi River create a dynamic
region along our coast. High nutrient content from the river
is blamed for the dead zone that forms each summer west
of the river mouth, while simultaneously being credited
for the Gulf’s Fertile Crescent and fisheries production.
Meanwhile, the transport of sediments, or the lack thereof,
shapes and reshapes our shoreline and barrier islands.
As important as the coast and coastal wetlands are, there
is more to Louisiana’s environment: the air, soil,
and potable water. For the health and wellbeing of our citizens,
and for the future economic development and viability of
the state, a clean, safe, and productive environment is
an absolute requirement.
An interdisciplinary faculty
of national and international stature
leads SC&E, conducting research in campus laboratories
or in unique natural laboratories in Louisiana and around
the world. SC&E is a dynamic player in the effort to
understand, save, and restore Louisiana’s coastal
wetlands and environment.
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SC&E
is a dynamic player in the effort to understand, save, and
restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and environment.
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