Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON)

Type of degree: Courses for working profrssionals

Brief overview of program: LUMCON provides coastal laboratory facilities to Louisiana universities, and conducts research and educational programs in the marine sciences. LUMCON is uniquely situated within the coastal landscape and are close to the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. LUMCON’s research programs span coastal and marine systems from the freshwater end of Barataria Bay, across the coastal ocean and its intersection with the Mississippi River, to the open Gulf of Mexico, and across the global ocean. Part of our mission is to increase society’s awareness of important Louisiana coastal issues. Our educators provide excellent educational experiences for all ages to further the understanding of the natural and human-influenced processes under-riding the landscape and resources of coastal Louisiana. We also conduct university classes and educate graduate students.

Website: Click here for program website

Description of Facilities: LUMCON's primary facilities are located at the DeFelice Marine Center in Cocodrie, approximately 85 miles southwest of New Orleans. The Marine Center is a modern, 75,000 square foot complex of research, instructional, housing, and support facilities. The Center includes 26,000 net usable square feet of laboratory, classroom, office, and library space. Eight laboratories are equipped with running sea water. Six additional laboratories are reserved for dry applications and instrumentation and are used for both research and teaching. A network of micro-computers and peripherals link users throughout the Center. Access to mainframe computers on the campuses of Consortium member institutions is provided via a T1 link.To provide additional access to special environments, a field station is maintained at Port Fourchon. Dormitory rooms and five apartments provide housing for up to 80 persons and are available for use by students, visiting investigators, and instructors. A cafeteria/ general meeting room is situated in the center of the complex, linking the housing and research/instructional spaces. A 99-seat auditorium facilitates teaching activities, presentation of seminars, and the convening of conferences. LUMCON is a member of UNOLS and operates the R/V Pelican is a 116 ft., coastal research vessel intended for use on the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Western Atlantic. The 58 ft. R/V Acadiana is available for short trips offshore and extended cruises in coastal bays, rivers and estuaries, and there are a number of small boats for use in the lakes, bays, and sounds of Louisiana. .

Program Faculty: Dr. Edward Chesney, fisheries and fish ecology especially as they relate to the early life history or larval stages of fish; Dr. Michael Dagg, zooplankton processes in the ocean: as a control on phytoplankton production; as food for higher trophic levels; and as mediators of vertical flux; Dr. Rodney Powell, trace metal speciation (colloids, redox state, organic complexation) and how it affects metal cycling and bioavailability in estuarine and coastal systems.Dr. Nancy Rabalais, biological oceanography-continental shelf ecosystems influenced by large rivers, benthic ecology, distribution and dynamics of hypoxia, eutrophication, environmental effects of habitat alterations; Dr. Paul Sammarco, larval dispersal and recruitment processes in corals, particularly as they pertain to the continuum from highly localized dispersal and recruitment to distant dispersal.

Student Support: Tuition and fees for courses are paid to the home institutions. LUMCON provides summer program scholarships for room and board and internships for stipend, room and board.

Program Point of Contact: Dr. Nancy N. Rabalais

Email: nrabalais@lumcon.edu

Institution address: LUMCON 8124 Hwy. 56
                             Chauvin,LA 70344

Phone: 985-851-2801