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Constituents:
The School of the Coast & Environment is a relatively young school – forty years in the making. We have a brilliant faculty invested in research and teaching to make a difference for our world – and most especially for Louisiana and our threatened coastal region. You are welcome to seek speakers and to submit inquiries. We are eager to engage with our community to achieve greater understanding of environmental challenges and strategies to mitigate them. Please take advantage of SC&E Experts as outlined below.

SC&E Experts:

The faculty of SC&E form an interdisciplinary cadre of national and international stature, conducting research in campus laboratories or in unique natural settings in Louisiana and around the world.

Areas of expertise include oceanography and coastal sciences, wetland studies, environmental toxicology and remediation, modeling, hurricane research, coastal ecology, coastal restoration planning and management, and fisheries, to name just a few.

Ask the Experts. If you have a question about Louisiana’s coast or environment, send us an e-mail and we will ask our experts to answer your question as quickly as possible.

SC&E’s Speakers Program. Through its Speakers Program, SC&E faculty and researchers disseminate educational information to the people of Louisiana. The faculty and staff listed below have volunteered to speak at professional and civic organizations on a variety of subjects. E-mail Amanda Haralson, SC&E’s Director of Development, or give her a call at 225-578-3381 for more information.

SC&E Faculty Speakers:

Donald M. Baltz
Professor • Ph.D. (1980), University of California, Davis • Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: The Spotted Seatrout in Louisiana—Habitat Affinities; Spawning Site Selection by Spotted Seatrout in Louisiana

Mark C. Benfield
Associate Professor • Ph.D. (1991), Texas A&M University • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Why Are There So Many Fish Around Oil Platforms?; Opening A Window Into the Ocean—New Technologies for Sampling the Sea.

James H. Cowan, Jr.
Professor • Ph.D. (1985), Louisiana State University • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Artificial Reefs in the Gulf of Mexico—Are They Doing What We Think They’re Doing?; Jellyfish as Predators; Fish Eggs and Larvae in the Gulf of Mexico.

John W. Day, Jr.
Emeritus Professor • Ph.D. (1971), University of North Carolina • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Mississippi River Diversion; Use of Wetlands for Water Quality Improvements.

Dubravko Justic
Professor • Ph.D. (1989), University of Zagreb, Croatia • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topic: Implications of Global Climate Change for Coastal Ecosystems Influenced by Large Rivers.

Edward A. Laws
Professor • Ph.D. (1972), Harvard University • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topic: Aquatic Pollution.

Irving A. Mendelssohn
Professor • Ph.D. (1978), North Carolina State University • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Wetlands Loss and Restoration—Oil Spill Impact and Cleanup; Brown Marsh—Causes and Consequences.

Edward B. Overton
Professor • Ph.D. (1970), University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa • Department of Environmental Sciences Speaker Topics: LSU Intellectual Property & Small Business; Energy Sources—Their Environmental Impact and Consumption Coalition with GDP; The Strategic Oil Reserve— How it Works; The Impact of Ozone on Everyday Life; Cyclical Warming—Its Causes and Impacts.

John C. Pine
Professor-Research • Ed.D. (1979), University of Georgia, Athens • Department of Environmental Sciences Speaker Topic: Vulnerability and Consequence Assessment for Natural and Man-made Disasters.

Ralph J. Portier
Environmental Sciences Distinguished Professor • Ph.D. (1982), Louisiana State University • Department of Environmental Sciences Speaker Topic: A Bioremediation Primer: or, How to Clean Up Your Very Own Hazardous Waste Site.

Margaret A. Reams
Associate Professor • Ph.D. (1990), University of Georgia, Athens • Department of Environmental Sciences Speaker Topic: Opportunities for Environmental Conflict Resolution in Louisiana.

Harry H. Roberts
Emeritus Boyd Professor , Coastal Studies Institute • Ph.D. (1969), Louisiana State University • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences and the Coastal Studies Institute Speaker Topics: New Energy Source—Louisiana Continental Shelf Coastal Issues; Natural Oil and Gas Seepage on the Louisiana Continental Slope; Natural and Man-Induced Dynamics of the Mississippi River Complex.

Kenneth A. Rose
Professor • Ph.D. (1985), University of Washington • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topic: Fish and Shrimp Population and Habitat Dynamics.

Lawrence J. Rouse, Jr.
Associate Professor • Ph.D. (1972), Louisiana State University • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, the Coastal Studies Institute, and the Coastal Marine Institute (director) Speaker Topics: The Earth from Space; Circulation in Louisiana Coastal Waters; Land Loss and Restoration in Coastal Louisiana.

Richard F. Shaw
Professor and Interim Dean, Coastal Fisheries Institute • Ph.D. (1981), University of Maine at Orono • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences and the Coastal Fisheries Institute Speaker Topics: Oil and Gas Platform Nurseries; Global Climatic Change—How It Will Affect the Louisiana Coast.

Gregory W. Stone
Morgan Professor and Director of WAVCIS • Ph.D. (1991), University of Maryland •Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Hurricanes—Impact on our Coast; Loss of the Wetlands and Restoration; Coastal Erosion—Mitigation; New Ocean Wave Technology—Ocean Observation Systems.

R. Eugene Turner
Environmental Sciences Distinguished Professor • Ph.D. (1974), University of Georgia • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Water Quality; The Dead Zone; Coastal Restoration.

Robert R. Twilley
Professor, Ph.D. (1982), University of Florida • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Development of Ecosystem Models to Forecast the Rehabilitation of the Coastal and Wetlands Ecosystems.

Nan D. Walker
ExxonMobil Professor of Marine Geology and Director, Earth Scan Lab • Ph.D. (1989), University of Cape Town, South Africa • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences , Coastal Studies Institute, Earth Scan Lab (Director) Speaker Topics:Real–time Satellite Surveillance of Storms and Ocean and Coastal Currents—LSU Earth Scan Laboratory; The Atchafalaya—BayWatch Coastal Measurement Program; The El Niño–Southern Oscillation—Global Perspective.

John R. White
Assistant Professor • Ph.D. (1999), University of Florida • Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: The Many Functions and Values of Wetlands, Nutrient Cycling in Wetlands, What is Oceanography?

Charles A. Wilson
Professor • Ph.D. (1984), University of South Carolina • Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Speaker Topics: Rigs to Reefs; Fishing Management and Science; Mapping Fish Habitat of Louisiana.

Vincent L. Wilson
Claiborne Gasoline Company Chair of Air Quality & Environmental Toxicology • Ph.D. (1980), Oregon State University • Department of Environmental Sciences Speaker Topics: Developments in Rare Mutations & Cancer Risk; Environmental & Human Biomonitoring by Rare Mutation Detection; Toxic Exposures & Germ Cell Mutation—Disease Risks Passed On To Our Children