This Week in RNR
- 11:30 am, Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Room 142 RNR, coffee and cookies at 11:20 am - Dr. Gary Kendrick
University of Western Australia - Title: Demographic and genetic connectivity: the role and consequences of reproduction, dispersal and recruitment in seagrasses
- RNR SEMINAR
- 17 January 2019, Thursday: Final date for dropping courses without receiving a grade of “W,” 4:30 p.m., deadline
- 18 January 2019, Friday: Final date for adding courses for credit and making section changes, 4:30 p.m., deadline
- 21 January 2019, Monday: Martin Luther King Day Holiday. No Classes.
- ACADEMIC CALANDER
Two RNR students honored as Udall Scholars
BATON ROUGE – LSU students Jack Green of Lake Charles, La., and Madelyn Smith of Lafayette, La.(junior majoring in natural resource ecology and management), have recently been named 2018 Udall Scholars in the environment category. McKaila Darden of Charenton, La. (a sophomore pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in natural resource ecology and management with a minor in forestry), has received an Honorable Mention in tribal policy. This is the first time an LSU student has been recognized two years in a row, as Smith was selected as a Udall Scholar in 2017. This is also the first time more than one Udall Scholar has been selected from LSU in the same year.
“We send our congratulations to these students for being recognized nationally by the Udall Foundation for their leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or the environment,” said LSU President F. King Alexander. “These three students are actively involved on campus and display stellar academic and research achievements. We are excited to see where they go in the future.”
For more information: Two LSU Students Named 2018 Udall Scholars, One Receives Honorable Mention
LSU 2019 Hall of Distinction: Alumnus of the Year Named
BATON ROUGE – H. Dale Hall, chief executive officer of Ducks Unlimited Inc., was named the 2019 LSU Alumnus of the Year, and Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Television Stations Group, is LSU Young Alumna of the Year.
They will be inducted into the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction on Friday, April 5, 2019, along with Gregory M. Bowser, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association and the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance, Baton Rouge; retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Lee K. Levy, former commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, Air Force Materiel Command and a member of the NASA Advisory Council, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and architect A. Hays Town, founding owner of Town Construction, Baton Rouge.
“The LSU Alumni Association annually recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves and the university through their careers, their personal and civic accomplishments, their volunteer activities and their loyalty to their alma mater,” said Cliff Vannoy, association president and CEO. “These individuals have excelled in all of these areas and exemplify the essence of a true Tiger.”
Hall, of Charlotte, N.C., joined Ducks Unlimited in 2010 after 31 years with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which he served as director from 2005-09. He serves on the boards of numerous conservation organizations and has received many honors recognizing his achievements, the most recent being his induction into the LSU School of Renewable Resources Hall of Fame as Alumnus of the Year in Spring 2018. Hall earned a master’s degree in fisheries management from LSU in 1979. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology/chemistry from Cumberland College in Kentucky.
Photo Credit: LSU Alumni Association
Article Permalink [here]
Researchers discuss implications of roseau cane die-off at summit
(12/17/18)BATON ROUGE, La. — Scientists recently discussed ways to overcome the problem of roseau cane die-offs in the marsh of coastal Louisiana.
The Dec. 10 meeting featured researchers from the LSU AgCenter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Roseau cane, a reed that is critical to reducing coastal erosion, has been suffering widespread die-offs in the Mississippi River Delta.
Researchers suspect multiple stressors are affecting the health of the roseau cane, which is considered vital to the longevity of the fragile marsh. Roseau cane die-offs could mean the loss of large swaths of marsh because the vegetation’s roots hold the fragile wetlands soil and protect inland areas from storm damage, said AgCenter entomologist Rodrigo Diaz.
Since its detection in the fall of 2016, the roseau cane scale was seen as a potential culprit due to the sheer numbers found in each cane stem.
“For the past two years, we have been interested in documenting the densities of the scale to determine the change in roseau cane populations,” Diaz said. “We have been conducting surveys to determine numbers.”
Diaz said he is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to develop satellite imagery to measure the amount of damage the die-off has caused.
During the meeting, AgCenter plant pathologist Rodrigo Valverde discussed his work to isolate and identify plant pathogens from roseau cane.
Valverde said he believes more than one culprit is affecting cane health.
“I am currently looking at the die-offs from a plant pathogen perspective,” he said. “We are going to the affected areas, collecting samples of diseased plants and bringing them to the lab.”
Valverde is isolating potential pathogens from the plants he collected and is growing cultures of some of them. His plan is to inoculate healthy roseau cane with the pathogens to see if they are causing disease or death.
Stressors like salinity and soil toxins are also being looked at as a part of the problem that’s causing plant die-offs.
Jim Cronin, a researcher in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences, said in addition to the other stressors, water depth is now being looked at a one of the causes of the die-off.
AgCenter coastal ecologist Andy Nyman is using remote sensing to measure roseau cane health in the marsh, and Tulane University professor Ehab Meselhe will look at the potential impact of die-offs on navigation dredging in the lower delta.
Nyman presented information from the early 1800s that noted the existence of roseau cane in the lower Mississippi River Delta.
“We will be using satellite imagery to determine what is actually out there,” Nyman said. “We’ve found that the roseau cane is not evenly distributed throughout the marsh.”
Nyman visited the mouth of the river in 2006, and the cane looked healthy. But when he returned 2013, large areas of plants had been cleared out by feral hogs.
“The hogs really love the roseau cane because of their high carbohydrates in the biomass,” he said. “By 2014, in Southeast Pass, it looked like almost everything was dead, but I didn’t think much of it because it was winter. By the spring of 2017, there was major die-off, and this is when it started to make the news.”
Ian Knight, an AgCenter postdoctoral associate in entomology, said different varieties of roseau cane have varying levels of susceptibility to the scale.
“A delta variety and a European variety of roseau cane are two types that grow in Louisiana marshes,” Knight said. “It appears that the European variety doesn’t seem to exhibit die-off symptoms as much as the delta variety.”
Earlier this year, Congress directed the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Agricultural Research Service to work with stakeholders to develop a pest management program for control of the roseau cane scale infestation in the Mississippi River Delta. A team has since been assigned to look at all areas of the die-off to see what is causing the problem.
Johnny Morgan. [permalink]Spring Alumni Event -
Save the Date
The School of Renewable Natural Resources/Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries Alumni Association and the College of Agriculture Alumni Association are hosting the first event of the spring semester on Saturday, February 2nd. We will meet at The Water Campus from 10 AM to 12 PM, and then move over to nearby Louisiana Cane Land Distilling Company from 12 PM to 2 PM.
LOCATIONS:
The Water Campus (just south of the I-10 bridge)
110 Terrace Avenue, 10 AM - 12 PM.
Louisiana Cane Land Distilling Co. 760 St. Phillip Street, 12 PM-2 PM
The program at The Water Campus will include a tour of the Mississippi River Model, and an update on the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan. We have the option of going on the balcony overlooking the river at The Estuary, if the weather permits.
At Cane Land, we will tour the distillery and participate in sampling various rums distilled on site. Additional drinks are available via cash bar. Box lunch sandwich selections will be provided by Maxwell’s Market.
Cost of the program including box lunch and sampling is $20 per person. We have maximum capacity for 45. Please let me know if you are planning to attend!
CONTACT:
Catie Barry
Administrative Coordinator
LSU SRNR/FWF Alumni Association
email: cbarry8[at]lsu.edu
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