Current Faculty Activities
Dr. Ed Overton leads a national/international effort which provides scientific support related to chemical hazard assessments and research developments to NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, Hazardous Materials Response Division for spills of oil and hazardous materials in marine areas under US jurisdiction, including 24 hour/day 365 days/year on call.
”We are one of five teams selected from the cream of the analytical microfabrication crop to participate in this program and it has high visibility in the DOD community: response capability. Iin collaboration with Sandia National Labs are working on a DARPA funded project to develop the next generation of analytical capability for the US DOD in a program called Micro Gas Analyzer (MGA). This is a three phased program funded to our team at the >S15 million dollar level, and we are in Phase I of this work. Completion of milestones will be required to get Phase II and II funding.” Overton
Dr. Paul Templet served as Secretary, State of Louisiana, Department of Environmental Quality, Baton Rouge, LA (1988- 1992). The Secretary of DEQ is a cabinet-level gubernatorial appointment, who is the administrative head, chief policy maker, and final authority on all DEQ actions, including permits, penalties and regulations. The DEQ is the primary environmental agency in Louisiana, with a budget of $60 million, 19 divisions, and a 1991 head count of 825. It regulates air, water and land pollution; solid, medical, and hazardous waste; groundwater; radiation; recycling and underground tanks.
Professor Templet was the Program Manager of Louisiana's Coastal Management Program during its development stage (1975-79), and was the architect of the program that is still functioning. He also developed a similar program for American Samoa.
Professor Michael Wascom serves as Vice-Chairman of the American Bar Association’s Law of the Sea Committee; President of the LSU International Hospitality Foundation; member of the Governor’s Groundwater Advisory Committee; was co-founder and three-time Chairman of the LA State Bar Association’s Section of Environmental Law; is former Vice Chairman of the ABA’s Marine Resources Committee ; is past Chairman of Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; is : former Director of the Sea Grant Legal Program at LSU; Interim Director of the LSU Coastal Fisheries Institute ; and former Director of LSU’s what used to be the Institute for Environmental Studies (now the Department of Environmental Sciences). Professor Wascom is a member of numerous state departmental and legislative advisory committees.
Dr. Margaret Reams was the Founding Director, LSU InterCollege Environmental Cooperative.
Dr. Aixin Hou is an invited participant in a national research program sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as the Japanese National Institute for Humanity and Nature. Both institutions have invited Dr. Hou to present original research on greenhouse gas contributions from flooded agricultural soils. She serves as an academic coordinator of an international collaborative project "Amur-Okhotsk Project (2004-2010).” This highly-funded prestigious
project among Japan, China and Russia deals with the effects of human activities (especially agricultural activities and forestry cutting and fire) on the ion transportation by Amur River to Okhotsk sea. She was invited to Japan in June 2004 and to China in January 2005 for project discussion.
Dr. John C. Pine is Chairman of the Hazard Mapping and Modeling Interest Group. The Natural Hazards Workshop is held annually in July. For the past four years, he has attended the largest ongoing hazards gathering of hazards researchers internationally. Over 400 researchers gather in Boulder, CO each summer in July for a week of open discussions focused on hazards and their impacts. The meeting includes many interest groups including GIS and Hazards. LSU agreed to establish an Internet site <http://hazards.lsu.edu> to facilitate communication on an ongoing basis for this group. His group continues to maintain the site. The group has also held Internet Teleconferencing sessions during the past year to encourage ongoing communication on GIS and hazards.
LSU was host with Dr. Pine as Chair of an international conference on "Vulnerability Assessment Techniques" in New Orleans Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 2004. The Organization of American States, NOAA, and the Caribbean Development Bank hold the meeting semi-annually and host it. Two ENVS graduate students assisted him in planning and program facilitation for this meeting (Pedro and Manning).
LSU is participating in a regional effort to link graduate education programs associated with hazards and disasters. Members include the University of New Orleans, Tulane University, Oklahoma State University and LSU.
“Our intent is to utilize current and future Internet telecommunications technologies to extend graduate students instructional opportunities in hazards and disasters.” John C. Pine: Member of the Planning Committee
Dr. Pine is also LSU’s representative for the National Consortium of Programs in Homeland Security and Emergency Management sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. The Provost Office at LSU provides support.
Dr. Ralph Portier serves on a NOAA committee reviewing marine biotechnology research. He is chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences and is also on the editorial board of Remediation and J Soils and Sediments. Dr. Portier also chairs the university’s Facilities Design and Development Committee that implements the campus-wide master plan.
Dr. Vince Wilson chairs the Grants & Requests Committee of the Environmental Mutagen Society.
