Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Directory

Department Administration | Faculty | Emeritus Faculty | Adjunct Faculty | Post-docs and Researchers

Department Chair

Dr. Kanchan Maiti Kanchan Maiti
Chair and Shell Professor of Oceanography
225-578-4531
kmaiti@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Research conducted at the Marine Geochemistry Laboratory led by Dr. Maiti explores interlinked topics related to transport and transformation of carbon, nutrients, and contaminants in coastal and deep ocean systems utilizing geochemical tracers and autonomous observation platforms. The availability of organic and inorganic carbon species can directly and indirectly impact various biogeochemical processes across the land-estuary-ocean aquatic continuum like formation of hypoxia, increase in ocean acidification, benthic elemental fluxes, biological carbon pump and air-sea exchange of greenhouse gases, which has implications for carbon budget at both local and global scales. Dr. Maiti’s research group seeks to provide answers to some of the fundamental questions related to ocean carbon biogeochemistry and environmental quality through field-based observations, natural isotope tracers and laboratory microcosm experiments. Current projects investigate the impacts of hurricanes on carbon budget in coastal Louisiana/Texas, carbon remineralization pathways and methane fluxes in GOM sediments, sediment driven ocean acidification in Louisiana shelf, submarine groundwater discharge in coastal Turkey, biological carbon fluxes and sediment carbon accumulation in Ross Sea, Antarctica and methane emission from orphan wells in Louisiana.

Dana Sanders
Assistant to the Chair
225-578-6308
danasanders@lsu.edu

Sharon Butler
Coordinator
225-578-6455
sbutler@lsu.edu

Heather Weeden
Travel/Purchasing Coordinator
225-578-2060
hweeden@lsu.edu

Faculty (A-Z)

Amanda Achberger
Assistant Professor
amanda.achberger@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Microbial ecology, environmental microbiology, biogeochemical cycling, seafloor ecosystems

Sibel Bargu Ates
CC&E and Shell Professor in Oceanography/Wetland Studies
225-578-3334
sbargu@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Freshwater, Estuarine and Marine Phytoplankton Ecology, Harmful Algal Blooms and Food Web Contamination, Phytoplankton-Zooplankton Interactions, Global Climate Change

Nazla Bushra
Assistant Professor - Research
nbushr2@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Climate science, natural hazards, extreme hazard risk analysis, environmental sustainability, geo-spatial analysis, big data, Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing, statistical modeling, machine learning and AI

Helen Connelly
Instructor
hconne10@lsu.edu
Research Interests: Wetland community structure, barium toxicology, metals sediment biogeochemistry, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon toxicology, fish and shellfish population studies

Michael Dance
Associate Professor
225-578-1243
mdance1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Movement ecology, fisheries science, population connectivity, stock assessment, seascape ecology, habitat use, early life history of marine fishes

Chris D'Elia Christopher D'Elia
Professor
225-578-7188
cdelia@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Nutrient dynamics in aquatic systems; estuarine ecology; coral reef ecology; algal/invertebrate symbiosis; science history and policy; math and science education; marine pollution; global climate change; analytical chemistry

Eurico D'Sa Eurico J. D'Sa
Professor
225-578-0212
ejdsa@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Ocean color remote sensing, bio-optical properties of coastal and ocean waters, physical-biogeochemical interactions; coastal biogeochemical processes

Cassie Glaspie Cassandra Glaspie
Associate Professor
cglaspie1@lsu.edu
225-578-0379
Research Interests:
My research integrates laboratory, field, and modeling approaches to address the question: how does environmental change alter interactions between members of an ecological community, and what are the implications for humanity? My lab focuses on coastal and estuarine benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms.

Cheryl Harrison
Assistant Professor
cherylharrison@lsu.edu
225-578-6425
Research Interests:
Physical, biogeochemical and ocean ecosystem modeling, applied mathematics, marine ecology, fisheries, climate impacts on marine ecosystems and fisheries, physical and biological transport, ecological dispersal, mesoscale biophysical interactions, and geoengineering.

Matt Hiatt Matthew Hiatt
Associate Professor
225-578-6092
mhiatt1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Coastal hydrology, environmental fluid dynamics, harmful algal blooms, water transport timescales in deltas and wetlands, hydrological connectivity in coastal environments, network analysis, nearshore waves

Haosheng Huang
Associate Professor
225-578-5117
hhuang7@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Physical oceanography, circulation in regional seas and continental shelves, coastal and estuarine circulation dynamics, unstructured grid numerical modeling and data assimilation, tide and storm surge simulation, bio-physical interaction and ecosystem modeling

Dubravko Justic
Texaco Distinguished Professor
225-578-6394
djusti1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Ecosystem modeling, biological oceanography, coastal eutrophication, hypoxia, impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems

Chunyan Li
Professor and Mobil Distinguished Professor of Marine Geology
225-578-3619
cli@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Physical oceanography, transport, coastal and estuarine circulations, innovative observations, modeling, extreme weather (such as hurricanes), induced water level changes including storm surges

Jun-Hong Liang
Associate Professor, Center for Computation and Technology
225-578-7031
jliang@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Physical Oceanography; Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamis; Ocean modeling

Wengui Liang
Assistant Professor
wengui.liang@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Extreme precipitation, climate extremes, climate dynamics, hydrological cycle, atmospheric general circulation

Dr. Kam-biu Liu Kam-biu Liu
George W. Barineau III Professor
225-578-8203
kliu1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Thematic: paleotempestology, coastal paleoecology, global environmental change, palynology and lake-sediments; Regional: U.S. Gulf coast and Atlantic coast, Caribbean region and Central America, South America (Andes and Amazon Basin), Tibetan Plateau, China

Kanchan Maiti
Department Chair and Shell Professor in Oceanography/Wetland Studies
225-578-4531
kmaiti@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Research conducted at the Marine Geochemistry Laboratory led by Dr. Maiti explores interlinked topics related to transport and transformation of carbon, nutrients, and contaminants in coastal and deep ocean systems utilizing geochemical tracers and autonomous observation platforms. The availability of organic and inorganic carbon species can directly and indirectly impact various biogeochemical processes across the land-estuary-ocean aquatic continuum like formation of hypoxia, increase in ocean acidification, benthic elemental fluxes, biological carbon pump and air-sea exchange of greenhouse gases, which has implications for carbon budget at both local and global scales. Dr. Maiti’s research group seeks to provide answers to some of the fundamental questions related to ocean carbon biogeochemistry and environmental quality through field-based observations, natural isotope tracers and laboratory microcosm experiments. Current projects investigate the impacts of hurricanes on carbon budget in coastal Louisiana/Texas, lateral carbon flux from coastal wetlands, carbon remineralization pathways and methane fluxes in GOM sediments, sediment driven ocean acidification in Louisiana shelf, submarine groundwater discharge in coastal Turkey, biological carbon fluxes and sediment carbon accumulation in Ross Sea, Antarctica and methane emission from orphan wells in Louisiana.

Giulio Mariotti
Associate Professor
gmariotti@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
My research focuses on the processes that shape coastal environments. I am interested in coupling physical and biochemical aspects, e.g. ecogeomorphology and biogeology. I carry forward my research using mathematical models, laboratory experiments and field work. My current agenda encompasses three main topics: 1) Wetland response to sea level rise, sediment supply and storminess. 2) Coupled dynamics of sediment & biofilms / microbial-mats. 3) Carbonate platform sedimentary processes.

Steve Midway Stephen Midway
Associate Professor
225-578-6458
smidway@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
I study a variety of aspects of fisheries ecology, often with applications to improving the management of commercial and recreational coastal fish species. My work includes basic biology and life history, species–environment interactions, and the use of hierarchical Bayesian models, among other tools.

Paul Miller
Associate Professor
225-578-2734
pmiller1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Coastal meteorology; Hydroclimatology; Mesoscale climate science; Weakly forced thunderstorms; Land-atmosphere interactions; Hazardous weather impacts

Victor Rivera Victor H. Rivera-Monroy
Professor
225-578-2745
vhrivera@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Estuarine and coastal ecosystems; biogeochemistry of wetlands; landscape modeling/ecosystem models; coastal management/aquaculture; mangrove forest rehabilitation/restoration; nutrient cycling inwetlands (nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon)

Tracy Quirk
Associate Professor
225-578-6426
tquirk@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Wetland ecology and restoration including plant and microbial processes, nutrient and carbon cycling and accretion dynamics, human impact on wetland ecosystems, and organic matter and nutrient linkages between coastal wetlands and rivers, estuaries, and submerged aquatic ecosystems.

Nancy Rabalais
Professor and Shell Endowed Chair in Oceanography and Wetland Studies
225-578-8531
nrabal@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Coastal change; eutrophication and hypoxia; cumulative coastal stressors; historical reconstruction of ecosystem changes from sediments; pelagic and benthic processes; human impacts in wetland and coastal ecosystems; science policy

Bob Rohli Robert V. Rohli
Professor
225-578-6346
rohli@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Coastal weather and climate, atmospheric circulation variability, atmospheric hazards, tropical cyclone dynamics, surface-atmosphere interactions, synoptic meteorology and climatology, geoscience education, history of science

Robert Twilley
Professor
225-578-6710
rtwilley@lsu.edu

Nan Walker Nan D. Walker
Professor and James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor of Coastal Studies; Director, Earth Scan Laboratory
225-578-2395
nwalker@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Physical oceanography, Satellite oceanography, Estuarine-shelf exchange processes, Air-sea interactions and tropical cyclone intensity, Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and eddy circulations, Physical-biological interactions, Physical processes affecting coral reef health

John White John R. White
John and Catherine Day Professor and Associate Dean of Research of the College of the Coast & Environment
225-578-8792
jrwhite@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Our research focuses on biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in aquatic systems including coastal and freshwater wetlands, estuaries and lake sediments, treatment performance of constructed wetlands for nutrients and pharmaceuticals removal, dynamics of internal nutrient loading, microbial-mediated nutrient transformations, plant-nutrient-soil dynamics. We provide critical research in helping coastal restoration managers to make informed decisions.

Kevin Xu Kehui (Kevin) Xu
Professor and Director, Coastal Studies Institute
225-578-0389
kxu@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Coastal restoration; sediment diversion; sediment dredging and management, geological oceanography, coastal morphodynamics, observation and numerical modeling of sediment transport, sedimentary geology, coastal processes

George Xue Zuo (George) Xue
Professor (joint appointment with the Center for Computation and Technology)
225-578-1118
zxue@lsu.edu (Contact me for graduate student opportunities)
Research Interests:
Physical-bio-geochemical modeling; Coastal ocean carbon cycling; Coupled atmospheric-hydrological modeling

Emeritus Faculty

Mark Benfield Mark C. Benfield
Emeritus Professor
225-578-6372
mbenfie@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Zooplankton ecology, optical and acoustic sensing of zooplankton, computer-based classification of zooplankton, acoustical telemetry studies of fish and invertebrates, application of industrial remotely operated vehicles (ROV) in biological observatories.

Robert Carney Robert S. Carney
Emeritus Professor
225-578-6511
rcarne1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Biological oceanography, research administration

John Day John W. Day, Jr.
Emeritus Professor
225-578-6508
johnday@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Estuarine Ecology, Systems Ecology, Wetland Ecology, Ecological Modeling, Effects of Humans on Natural Systems, Tropical Coastal Ecology, Energy, Sustainability, Urban Dynamics

Ronald DeLaune
Emeritus Professor
225-578-6421
rdelaun@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Biogeochemical cycling, Wetland Biogeochemistry, coastal processes, non-point source pollution, coastal restoration, soil-plant interactions, coastal marsh stability, sedimentation processes, wetland plant ecology, degradation and bioremediation of toxic organics, heavy metal chemistry, ecotoxicology, greenhouse gases.

Charles Lindau
Emeritus Professor
225-578-8766
clinda1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Nitrogen transformations in flooded soils and sediments, stable isotopes, greenhouse gases, oil spill remediation, point and non-point pollution

Irving Mendelssohn Irving A. Mendelssohn
Emeritus Professor
225-578-6425
imendel@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Wetland and barrier island plant ecology, plant physiological ecology

Richard Shaw Richard F. Shaw
Emeritus Professor
225-578-3334
rshaw@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Larval/juvenile fish habitat and ecology; biological/fisheries oceanography; transport and recruitment mechanisms and coastal-estuarine processes; age, growth and mortality analyses, fisheries and global climate change, research administration

R. Eugene Turner
Emeritus Boyd Professor
225-578-6454
euturne@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Biological oceanography, conservation, environmental management, estuarine ecology, fisheries ecology, restoration, sustainable systems, wetlands

Adjunct Faculty

Melissa Baustian Melissa M. Baustian
Adjunct Professor, College of the Coast & Environment, USGS Ecologist
337-266-8500
mbaustian@usgs.gov
Research Interests:
Assessing how pelagic, benthic, and vegetated habitats of coastal ecosystems support functions of nutrient cycling, trophic dynamics of food webs, and carbon sequestration; understanding how microphytobenthos are influenced by nutrient enrichment, climate change, and coastal restoration

Brian Roberts
Adjunct Professor, College of the Coast & Environment, LUMCON Executive Director and Chief Scientist
985-851-2801
broberts@lumcon.edu
Research Interests:
Ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry, particularly focused on terrestrial-aquatic and community-ecosystem linkages along the aquatic continuum; human-induced environmental impacts on aquatic ecosystems; restoration ecology

Jacob Berkowitz
Adjunct Professor, College of the Coast & Environment, USACE Research Soil Scientist
601-529-3115
jberko@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Hydric soils, wetland assessment, restoration, biogeochemistry, forested wetlands, beneficial use of dredged sediments technology transfer

Marcelo Cohen Marcelo Cancela Lisboa Cohen
Adjunct Professor
786-449-9749
mccohen@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
Holocene and Anthropocene history of mangrove dynamics on the Brazilian coast and Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean regions, remote sensing, fossil pollen, stable isotopes and sedimentary features to reconstruct environments impacted by sea-level fluctuations and climate changes

Dan Holstein
Adjunct Professor
dholstein1@lsu.edu
Research Interests:
My lab studies various aspects of seascape ecology, including invertebrate reproduction, larval dispersal, metapopulation modeling, and the spatial ecology of environmental change. We focus on tropical coral reefs, with a special interest in refuge environments - like deeper mesophotic reefs - and how these environments interact with others in the seascape.