Research News

Less Water in the Mississippi Means a Smaller Dead Zone This Year

Less Water in the Mississippi Means a Smaller Dead Zone This Year

Last month, the research expedition tasked with making the annual measurements of the Gulf of Mexico’s “Dead Zone” came back with a not-unexpected but lower than usual number: this year, the zone measures approximately 3,275 square miles. In other words, it is the 8th smallest it has been since measurements began 36 years ago.

LSU Health New Orleans Discovers Major Contributor to Alzheimer’s Disease

LSU Health New Orleans Discovers Major Contributor to Alzheimer’s Disease

Research led by Drs. Yuhai Zhao and Walter J Lukiw at the LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center and the Departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Neurology and Ophthalmology, reports for the first time a pathway that begins in the gut and ends with a potent pro-inflammatory toxin in brain cells contributing to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Sea Grant

Alternative Oyster Culture Anchoring System to be Tested

When many alternative oyster culture operations on Grand Isle were damaged during the 2020 hurricane season, Louisiana State University (LSU) researchers and Louisiana Sea Grant personnel thought they found a mechanism to help AOC farms defend against tropical storms.

ECE Ph.D. Student Wins Pair of Awards at IEEE Events

ECE Ph.D. Student Wins Pair of Awards at IEEE Events

Mohadese Movahednia, a research assistant and Ph.D. student in the LSU Division of Electrical & Computer Engineering, was recently awarded the3rd best paper award at the 2022 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Texas Power and Energy Conference and 2nd best poster award at the 2022 IEEE PES (Power and Energy Society) General Meeting.

Dead Zone

Below-average Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ measured

NOAA-supported scientists announced that this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone”— an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and marine life — is approximately 3,275 square miles.

LSU AgCenter to Expand Bioproducts, Bioprocessing Research with New Grant

LSU AgCenter to Expand Bioproducts, Bioprocessing Research with New Grant

The Louisiana Board of Regents has awarded the LSU AgCenter Louisiana Institute for Bioproducts and Bioprocessing a grant of nearly $1 million to upgrade equipment for the state-approved institute.

PERTT Lab

LSU PETE Faculty, ExxonMobil URC Study Gas Migration at PERTT Lab

ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company has joined forces with LSU Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering faculty to conduct gas migration experiments as part of a financial grant from ExxonMobil URC.

Sophie Ziegler

LSU Expanding Efforts to Digitize Louisiana’s Diverse Cultural Institutions

The LSU Libraries was one of five to receive the 2022 Catalyst Fund from LYRASIS, which serves and supports 1,000 academic and public libraries, archives, museums and cultural heritage organizations in 28 countries.

Two Studies Look at Female Athletes’ Mental, Physical Resilience

Two Studies Look at Female Athletes’ Mental, Physical Resilience

Two new studies will examine female athletes’ mental and physical resilience via two newly funded grants, dedicated to improving performance and helping people thrive throughout their lives.

LSU Chemical Engineering Faculty Researching Means of Decreasing Greenhouse Gases

LSU Chemical Engineering Faculty Researching Means of Decreasing Greenhouse Gases

Combustion of natural gas, chiefly comprised of methane, provides a major portion of our nation’s energy needs. Additionally, methane can be reacted with steam in a process known as methane steam reforming to produce carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2), which are then used to produce a wide range of fuels and chemicals.

Two LSU Graduate Students Named Knauss Fellowship Finalists

Two LSU Graduate Students Named Knauss Fellowship Finalists

Sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program, the John A. Knauss Fellowship matches graduate students with an interest in ocean and coastal resources and national policy affecting those resources with hosts in federal legislative or executive branch offices for one year.

LSU Reveals Keys to Successful Crisis Communication

LSU Reveals Keys to Successful Crisis Communication

Government officials and media representatives help form a “best practices” list for effective communication during extreme weather events.

LSU Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures Professor Mark Wagner

LSU Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures Professor Awarded Fellowship at Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study

Mark Wagner, professor of Arabic in the LSU Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, has been awarded a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Wagner will undertake the research project titled, “The Rothschilds of Arabia and Africa: The Rise and Fall of a Jewish Mercantile Empire Under the British Raj.”

Four LSU Faculty Awarded National Science Foundation CAREER Awards

Four LSU Faculty Awarded National Science Foundation CAREER Awards

Four LSU researchers have been awarded the National Science Foundation's most prestigious grant for early-career faculty, who exhibit potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.

The Sky Is For Everyone

Global Physicist Gabriela González Featured in International Women Astronomer Book

LSU Boyd Professor of Physics Gabriela González is featured in a new international book titled “The Sky is for Everyone: Women Astronomers in Their Own Words.” The book is a series of 37 autobiographical essays by women astronomers showcasing their encounters breaking down barriers and changing the face of modern astronomy.