2025 UROP Research Projects Announced
This year the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program (LSG) is funding four Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) projects. Established in 1992 to provide talented undergraduate students with hands-on research experience, LSG has funded more than 200 UROP projects.
Each UROP student will gain first-hand knowledge regarding the whole research process from design, implementation, analysis to conclusion. The hope is for students to present at relevant conferences and publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Projects receive funding up to $3,500. UROP applications are accepted each fall for projects starting the following March. Full-time undergraduate students at all Louisiana colleges and universities are eligible.
Katherine Aranda, Louisiana State University
Faculty Advisor: John White
Impact of Climate-Induced Mangrove Migration on Coastal Wetland Soil Characteristics and Water Quality Improvement
The benefits of coastal wetlands include carbon sequestration, storm surge protection and water quality improvement. Coastal wetland loss in the northern Gulf is increasing due to numerous factors, and the variety and abundance of wetland plants are changing as the climate changes.
Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) in coastal marshes is being replaced by black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). Microbial processes, such as denitrification, rely on available carbon. Wood, like black mangrove, typically holds more available carbon than grasses. This project will compare carbon in marsh soils dominated by smooth cordgrass to marsh soils where Spartina has been replaced by black mangrove. This project will also measure the removal of nitrate in each marsh type, nitrate is a common nutrient pollutant which is linked to the Gulf hypoxia or Dead Zone. Project results will be useful to resource management efforts since the Mississippi River carries significant nitrate concentrations, and black mangrove’s expansion could impact coastal water quality.
Raleigh Billiot, Nicholls State University
Faculty Advisor: Bliss Broussard
Investigating EPS-Independent Adhesion in Vibrio vulnificus: Adaptations in Hydrocarbon-Rich Environments
The multimillion-dollar oyster industry faces a persistent threat from Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that can cause fatal infections in people who consume contaminated oysters. V. vulnificus thrives in nutrient-poor, hydrocarbon-rich conditions, raising concerns about its environmental persistence and potential for accumulation within shellfish tissues in polluted waters. Through this project, the research team aims to address gaps in microbial ecology and expand understanding of V. vulnificus adaptations to petroleum hydrocarbons in aquatic habitats. A deeper understanding of microbial ecology will enhance efforts to mitigate microbial contamination in aquaculture, improve food safety, and inform strategies for managing microbial risks in oil-impacted environments.
Lucille McCain, Loyola University New Orleans
Faculty Advisor: Frank Jordan
Development of eDNA Methodology to Monitor Spread of Asian Swamp Eels in Lake Pontchartrain Estuary
Invasive species contribute to major loss of biodiversity in the coastal ecosystems of Louisiana. Populations of Cuchia (Amphipnous cuchia), a species of Asian swamp eel, have been found in Bayou St. John, a New Orleans urban waterway. Their ability to breathe air and crawl overland, along with their ability to thrive in fresh and brackish water, leads them to be potentially harmful to native species and habitats.
McCain is developing an inexpensive and reliable molecular tool for detecting Cuchia using environmental DNA (eDNA), which is DNA found in cells that the animal sheds in the water. Researchers, fishery biologists and natural resource managers will be able to collect and analyze water samples for the presence of eDNA to monitor the expansion of Cuchia and aid in management and eradication strategies.
Andrea Tirado Fernández, Nicholls State University
Faculty Advisor: Allyse Ferrara
Comparison of Lower Atchafalaya River and Lower Mississippi River Young-of-the-Year Catfish Diets
Understanding food webs in the deltaic plain of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers is an important aspect of fisheries management. Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) are an important part of this food chain, but the diet of the young of year (YoY) blue catfish has never been studied. Should gut contents of YoY catfish differ between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, that difference may reflect loss of floodplain connectivity between the two rivers, indicating the importance of delta connectivity to each river’s fisheries productivity. Tirado Fernández will examine the contents of the digestive tract of blue catfish from each river and identify the gut contents to create baseline diet data. This data can be used to predict/assess the impacts of future river projects on commercial and recreational fisheries in both rivers.