![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081106085056im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
2003 Progress Report: Human Activities and a Changing Climate in Louisiana
EPA Grant Number: R829420E01Title: Human Activities and a Changing Climate in Louisiana
Investigators: Dagg, Michael
Institution: Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
EPA Project Officer: Winner, Darrell
Project Period: June 10, 2002 through June 9, 2004 (Extended to June 9, 2006)
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 10, 2003 through June 9, 2004
Project Amount: $74,534
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (2001)
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
Description:
Objective:Global change will affect Louisiana in numerous ways, including: enhancement of sea-level rise and the associated changes in coastal ecosystems; changing patterns and amounts of fisheries production; changing patterns, amounts, and quality of drainage from land to sea; changes in weather, climate, and wind patterns; changes in storm frequency and intensity; and long-term shifts to nonhydrocarbon energy sources. Each of these changes will have strong sociological implications in Louisiana, a state heavily dependent on its coastal environment for economic and cultural reasons. The objectives of this research project are to: (1) develop a coordinated, multi-institutional research and education program addressing aspects of global change most relevant to Louisiana; and (2) enhance Louisiana’s capability for understanding and predicting the effects of climate change on state ecosystems, culture, and economy.
Progress Summary:Specific activities that were proposed to support the Science and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER) program and to develop a broad-based statewide capability for responding to global change were continued in Year 2 of the project, and some new activities were initiated.
Two-year development grants for students and postdocs were proposed for award in Year 1 to three students from any university in the state to collaborate with three out-of-state, high-visibility scientists on some aspects of our theme. This program was modeled after a similar program run by Louisiana’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. An advertisement throughout state universities resulted in awards being made to four students. Each student has an out-of-state collaborator. Awards are for $8,000 each, for a period of 2 years. Funds for the extra award were taken from the intern program (see below) for which there was poor response in Year 1. The recipients of the 2-year development grants funded in Year 1 were:
- Ms. Shaye Sable, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University, under the supervision of Dr. James Cowan for a project titled Response of Larval Fish to Dimethylsulfide (DMS): An Experiment to Determine a Possible Effect of Climate Change on Fisheries Production in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Mr. Brian Milan, an M.S. student at Louisiana State University, under the supervision of Dr. Richard Shaw for a project titled Fisheries Utilization of Smooth Cordgrass and Black Mangrove Edge Habitat: Implications of Global Climate Change.
- Mr. Lawrence Febo, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University, for a project titled Investigating the Sediment Archives of Catahoula Lake, LA.
- Ms Melanie Caudill, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University, under the supervision of Dr. Richard Shaw, for a project titled The Role of Hydroperiod and Stem Densities in Determining Fisheries Utilization in Black Mangrove and Smooth Cordgrass Salt Marshes: Implications for a Changing Landscape.
Consistent with the 1 year no-cost extension awarded to the overall program, completion dates of these development grants have been extended by 1 year.
A summer internship program for students from any of Louisiana’s universities to work for 10-week summer periods with any of the SEER Principal Investigators was proposed again in Year 2. As in Year 1, response to the advertisement was poor and no interns were supported on this program. Year 2 funds proposed for this program are being used to support part of a postdoctoral effort to develop educational materials related to the program theme.
Travel grants for non-SEER faculty and students to attend national meetings and give a presentation relevant to our global change theme were proposed again in Year 2. Two student awards were made in Year 1, but response to advertised availability of these funds was low in Year 2 and no awards were made.
Partial support was requested for a science writer to prepare articles for newsletters, newspapers, and gray literature publications on appropriate global change issues. This activity was initiated in Year 1, with an article in the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) newsletter, published in the summer of 2002 (see http://www.lumcon.edu/news/newsletter/archive/summer_2002.pdf
). As part of the Year 2 activity, a postdoc is being partially supported to expand this outreach and education component by preparing brochures on climate change and the Louisiana coast, and development of Web-based educational materials for display on the Principal Investigator’s Web page.
Two seminars on aspects of climate change and coastal oceanography were supported by this program in Year 2, and two additional seminars are planned during the no-cost extension period. A major workshop or symposium was proposed for Year 2 to discuss global change and coastal Louisiana. Funds for this symposium are being pooled with additional funds from a separate program at Tulane University, and the Principal Investigators of these two awards are jointly sponsoring a larger symposium to be held November 16-18, 2004. The theme of this symposium is “River-Ocean Margins and Global Change.” Approximately 50 scientists from throughout North America and Europe will attend this 3-day symposium, to be held at the Solomon Center near New Orleans, LA. This symposium will address important issues related to the effects of climate change on coastal Louisiana, and will produce a written document for broad circulation within the scientific community. This document will serve as a basis for brochures and other educational materials to be distributed to the public via the Internet and via LUMCON’s educational and outreach programs.
As part of LUMCON’s interactive video class, taught in the spring of 2004, titled “Our Changing Coastal Ocean”, the Principal Investigator gave the equivalent of four lectures on climate change to students from five universities linked to this class. Much of this material was directly relevant to coastal Louisiana.
Future Activities:We will conclude development grants, with written reports required for each award. Additional seminars, as funds permit, on global change issues will be presented during the remaining time for this program.
Supplemental Keywords:climate change, coastal, Louisiana, LA, global climate, coastal ecosystems, coastal fisheries, wetlands, aquatic ecology, climate variability, fish habitat, global change, global climate change, global warming, land and water resources, watershed, air, geographic area, atmospheric sciences, ecological risk assessment, ecology and ecosystems, hydrology, state, aquatic,
,
Air, Geographic Area, Scientific Discipline, RFA, climate change, Ecology, Ecological Risk Assessment, Atmospheric Sciences, Hydrology, Environmental Monitoring, State, Global Climate Change, watershed, coastal ecosystems, fish habitat, wetlands, Louisiana (LA), climate variability, land and water resources, global change, aquatic ecology
Relevant Websites:
http://www.lumcon.edu/news/newsletter/archive/summer_2002.pdf
http://www.lumcon.edu/faculty/mdagg/
Progress and Final Reports:
2002 Progress Report
Original Abstract
2004 Progress Report
Final Report