Coastal Science Assistantship Program (CSAP)

Current Students

Emmanuel Adeniyi

Louisiana State University; Department of Geography and Anthropology

Major Professor: Lei Wang
Project Title: Cloud-based Implementation and Dissemination Tool for Long-term River Diversion and Land Restoration Assessment near the Mid-Barataria Basin in South Louisiana

River sediment diversions have been used for wetland restoration. Long-term assessment of restoration projects can help in determining diversion efficacy. However, traditional, large geographic, long-term assessment can be costly, subjective and tedious. Existing and planned land monitoring satellites can detect vegetation abundance and suspended sediment concentration in water, while Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) can be used to calibrate that data, at significantly lower cost. Using information collected by these instruments, The research team plans to develop a cloud-based tool to assess the magnitude of land restoration near the Mid-Barataria River Diversion. The team is hopeful this tool can be used for other wetland-river diversion projects, as well. Follsing his graduation, Adeniyi hopes to be a geoinformation specialist providing geospatial solutions to numerous environmental challenges facing the global community.

Dipesh Banjade

Louisiana State University

Major Professor: Sabarethinam Kameshwar
Project Title: Coastal Master Plans Effect on Hurricane Safety of Aboveground Storage Tanks in Louisiana

Numerous Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs) are used to store a variety of substances like crude oil, petrochemicals and some hazardous substances in coastal Louisiana. Previous hurricane events reveal that such infrastructures are susceptible to hurricane and flood damages, but the Coastal Master Plan, a flood mitigation plan, doesn’t include damage to such infrastructure in mitigation strategies. To overcome such discrepancies, Banjade will expand on previous research to assess the vulnerability of ASTs in coastal Louisiana and estimate the effectiveness of the Coastal Master Plan in preventing the failure of ASTs. Ultimately, this project will help CPRA understand the probability of AST failures and identify the effectiveness of regional risk mitigation measures to prevent future spills and damages.

Banjade is an aspiring civil engineer with a passion for structural engineering. After his master’s, he plans to work on the structural engineering aspects of infrastructures to help communities and ecosystems be resilient to current and upcoming future scenarios (hazads).

Donald Davidson

University of New Orleans

Major professor: Madeline Foster-Martinez
Project Title: How do Physical Properties of Vegetation Modify the In-situ Flow and Sediment Regime

Reestablishing marsh vegetation is integral to Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts. Many perceive vegetation’s role in land building as adding friction and slowing currents to cause sediment deposits. However, that is not always the case. Dense vegetation can divert water around areas of emerging marsh and prevent sediment-laden water from contributing to land building. This project will study how physical properties (i.e., shape, height, stem width, branching, flexibility, etc.) of vegetation modify water flow and the sediment regime in Bay Denesse. Davisson said he’s interested in the health of estuarine ecosystems. His career goal is to continue utilizing collaborative experiences to help maximize Louisiana’s coastal wetland conservation and restoration plans.

Jeydon DeWaters

Louisiana State University

Major Professor: John R. White
Project Title: The Relative Contribution of Plant Uptake vs Denitrification of Nitrate in Water Quality Improvement from Sediment River Diversion Operations

The state of Louisiana is experiencing coastal land loss due to subsidence and sea level rise. One type of restoration project that will be implemented to combat this land loss is the reconnection of rivers to coastal basins by sediment diversions. The river water is expected to carry relatively high concentrations of nitrate during the springtime flood, which occurs at the same time the diversions are planned to start. Wetland plants typically remove excess nitrate both by assimilation into plant biomass and by converting nitrate to a gaseous form of nitrogen that is released back into the atmosphere. The goal of this research is to determine the rates of nitrate uptake in wetland plants to reduce uncertainty in predicting potential impacts of sediment diversion efforts on water quality.

DeWaters wants to lead future coastal restoration projects once he finishes his master’s degree in oceanography and coastal science. Ultimately, he hopes to approach coastal restoration in a way that balances restoring the environment with honoring and preserving cultures of different coastal communities.

Chisom O. Emeghiebo

University of Louisiana Lafayette

Major Professor: Bingqing Liu
Project Title: Revealing Phytoplankton Biodiversity in Louisiana Estuaries: A Hyperspectral Exploration with Field, Laboratory and Satellite Data Powered by Spectral Mixture Analysis

Emeghiebo’s research focus is investigating water quality in coastal ecosystems and their reactions to meteorological events, climate change, and human impacts. Her She research primarily utilizes a combination of fieldwork and remote sensing observations, enhanced by spatial and temporal analyses. She will also integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to deepen the understanding of these complex interactions.

Emeghiebo’s career goal is to become a leading expert in water quality science. She wants to focus on developing sustainable water management practices that can help create resilient water systems capable of withstanding the challenges posed by climate change and increasing human activities. Her ultimate goal is to protect biodiversity and human well-being by building innovative solutions that can promote sustainable practices on a global scale.

Elizabeth Granier

Nicholls State University, Department of Biological Sciences

Major Professor: Jonathan M. Willis
Project Title: Elucidating the Successional Trajectories of Louisiana Barrier Island Vegetation Communities through Data Mining

Barrier islands – which are vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms – play an integral role in mitigating coastal land loss. The state has made considerable investment in barrier island restoration, which includes vegetation plantings to armor islands against storms. Currently, data gaps exist regarding vegetation propagation and community composition through time on restored barrier islands. This project plans to fill in those data gaps by utilizing existing monitoring data from restoration projects, as well as geospatial data – such as LIDAR and satellite imagery – to determine land stability for various vegetation habitat types. By filling in the gaps, this research’s results could aid coastal restoration planners in determining where and when follow-up plantings are needed to enhance barrier island stability after hurricanes and high-energy storms. After she completes her masters, Granier wants obtain employment on the federal level to continue research on the conservation of fragile environments, with a focus on plant conservation and remediation.

Zachary Kassuba

Louisiana State University, School of Renewable Natural Resources

Major Professor: Megan La Peyre
Project Title: Development of a Suitability Index Tool for Coastal Louisiana to Inform Site Selection for Oyster Based Living Shorelines that Both Enhance Estuarine Oyster Metapopulations and Promote Shoreline Stabilization

Estuarine systems provide many ecological and socioeconomic benefits to coastal communities. Yet, estuarine systems are declining globally as the result of sea level rise, extreme weather events and other factors. Louisiana has some of the most extensive coastal marshes in the United States, but also the highest rates of relative sea level rise and wetland loss. The state also supports up to 40 percent of the nation’s oyster production but is experiencing significant declines. As part of this project, data will be collected from across the state’s existing living shoreline reefs on oyster populations, water quality and shoreline movement. That data will be used to develop a habitat suitability model to identify coastal locations likely to support oyster population enhancement and sustainability, as well as marsh edge stabilization. The project will aid CPRA in developing comprehensive protection and restoration plans for coastal Louisiana which utilize natural processes.

After obtaining his masters, Kassuba is planning on returning home to the Upper Great Lakes Region in Michigan to work as a fisheries biologist.

Sable Fae Murphy

University of New Orleans, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Major Professor: Madeline Foster-Martinez
Project Title: What Comes Next? Tracking Wetland Transitions across the Louisiana Coast

Changing environmental conditions prompt shifts in coastal vegetation species. The speed of these changes and the resulting vegetation response can be the difference between vegetation death and subsequent land loss, or vegetation transition and land maintenance. Since vegetation impacts both sediment and hydrologic processes, including vegetation changes is key to modeling coastal land evolution. Murphy will utilize data collected over 18 years through the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System to identify vegetation transition patterns – allowing for the probabilities of common transitions to be calculated.

Murphy said she hopes to make a meaningful and substantive contribution to at least one large-scale policy initiative that protects living organisms during her career.

Max Perry Newman

Louisiana State University, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences

Major Professor: John White

Project Title: A Comparative Assessment of Sediment Characteristics and Benthic Infaunal Communities along the NE and SW Regions of the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary

The Lake Pontchartrain estuary is a vital coastal basin linked to both important recreational and commercial fisheries. There is a scarcity of dense spatial data available on the variable physical and chemical sediment characteristics that make up the basin. The greatest sediment variability, however, can be seen from the center of the estuary where there is low-bulk density towards the northeast shore, which contains the highest bulk density indicative of sandy sediments. Infauna – animals living in the sediments – distribution is critically important to the food web, in particular bottom-feeding fish like Gulf sturgeon. This research will characterize the infauna along the lake’s northeastern shore, as this habitat might be critically important to valuable fish species. Additionally, researchers will determine if the muddier sediments of the estuary support similar bottom-dwelling organisms and potentially similar fish species.

Newman is interested in understanding the vast complexity of ecological systems and hopes to utilize this knowledge to pursue a career in research, while working with both governmental and non-governmental agencies to further coastal restoration initiatives

Bonnie J. Slaton

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Major Professor: Paul Leberg
Project Title: Assessing Resiliency of Coastal Seabird Communities Following Coastal Restoration and Hurricane Disturbance

Coastal islands in the Terrebonne and Barataria basins are critical habitats for several threatened species facing range-wide impacts due to climate change. Slaton will study the effects of storms and restoration on successional processes that control avian populations. She will compare extensive pre-storm and current island conditions, assessing restored and unrestored islands and the wildlife that inhabit them, such as brown pelicans (Pelicanus occidentalis). Ultimately, this project will help inform future restoration practices. After obtaining her master’s, Slaton plans to work as a non-game avian biologist on the Louisiana coast, protecting bird species and their habitats.

Maylee Sun

University of Lousiana Lafayette, Department of Biology

Major Professor: Robyn Zerebecki

Project Title: Investigating How Tidal Inundation and Plant Composition Influence Black Mangrove Growth and Survival to Inform Coastal Restoration

Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts often focus on restoring foundation species – such as Spartina alterniflora – to drive creation of new habitat, reduce physical environmental stressors, enhance food availability and shape species interaction. Due to infrequent cold events and warming temperatures, the composition of foundation species is changing. Nowhere is this change more apparent than in southern Louisiana where black mangroves are expanding into marshes that have historically been dominated by Spartina. This project will investigate how Spartina presence or absence, black mangrove maternal lineage and tidal inundation influence mangrove growth and survival. Researchers believe mangrove propagules may benefit from the presence of Spartina when under stress at early life stages. Further, the researchers believe that different maternal lines will vary in plant traits, and this variation could have impacts on restored wetland ecosystem function.

Upon completing her degree, Sun hopes to work with local communities in developing plans that benefit both coastal ecosystems and the people who rely on them. She hopes to advocate for wetlands by bridging knowledge gaps between scientists and the general public.

Abhishek Tiwari

Louisiana Tech University

Major Professor: Jay Wang
Project Title: Development of Design Criteria for the use of Articulating Concrete Mats and Geosynthetic Separator Fabric as Protective Features for Earthen Containment Dikes Exposed to Localized Wave Forces

Coastal wetland loss in Louisiana is a complex issue. Solutions include constructing containment dikes to restore and protect coastal habitats. Earthen dikes along the shoreline are typically built on soft clay, silts or fine sands and are different from levees because the dikes are subjected to continued damaging high current, wave and pore water pressure conditions. This project involves developing construction criteria for earthen dikes – using geosynthetic separator fabric and concrete mats as protective features – for coastal marsh creation. Ultimately, the project aims to deliver detailed step-by-step procedures for earthen dike construction. After completing his master’s and doctorate degrees, Tiwari hopes to join the faculty at a prestigious research institution and continue research that benefits communities, while also mentoring upcoming generation of scholars.