INVEST. ENVISION. IMPACT. - UL Lafayette Foundation

UL LAFAYETTE FOUNDATION & RESEARCH
INVEST.
Providing the resources and
technology our faculty needs to
compete with other universities
for research dollars
IMPACT.
Researchers and professors
are recognized on an international
stage for their work
ENVISION.
UL Lafayette moves up in
Carnegie Classifications from “High
Research Activity” to “Very High
Research Activity” with over
$100 million in research dollars
UL LAFAYETTE RESEARCH
RESEARCH.LOUISIANA.EDU | 337.482.6541
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the
Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles off the Louisiana coastline,
causing the largest oil spill in U.S. history. As oil began gushing into
the Gulf, faculty and staff at UL Lafayette were quickly assessing how
they could help in the recovery and response.
The state quickly realized they needed access to university
expertise. They created a 20 person panel entitled ‘Horizon Science
and Engineering Review Team’ (HSERT) to provide technical input.
Four researchers from the university including the Dean of the
College of Engineering Dr. Mark Zappi, Engineering Professors
Dr. Don Hayes and Dr. Ehab Meselhe and Associate Professor of
Renewable Resources Dr. Jenneke Visser served on the panel making
recommendations and sharing knowledge on response, remediation,
and restoration.
UL Lafayette’s Vice President for Research, Dr. Robert Twilley led
the panel of university experts and Dean Zappi worked with the
cleanup subcommittee. Zappi made recommendations, reviewed work
plans, offered suggestions on meeting with federal officials and met
with companies on behalf of the governor’s office. “At UL Lafayette,
we have been studying the coastline for so long, our expertise
was so valuable to everyone,” Zappi said. “Our role in the recovery
and cleanup shows we are key players and that UL Lafayette is a
top research institution.”
When Governor Bobby Jindal activated the Louisiana Business
Emergency Operation Center (BEOC), Ramesh Kolluru and the UL
Lafayette National Incident Management Systems and Advanced
Technologies (NIMSAT) Institute got to work. They were tasked with
presenting ideas on how to cap the well and remediate the coastal
wetlands. They solicited ideas from the private sector and presented
the best solutions to the appropriate agencies. “Often the individuals
in the private sector are the ones directly impacted by the disaster,”
Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, Executive Director of NIMSAT said. “By allowing
them to contribute their ideas and solutions, we are helping them
provide their services to government and as a result, may be helping
them stay in business.” NIMSAT also is providing statistical analysis
of the economic impact of the disaster itself and the deepwater
drilling moratorium.
The input of these faculty was just a small part of research being
done by UL Lafayette employees. Researchers at the university
received three National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to study the
effects of the oil spill. Dr. Darryl Felder and Dr. Suzanne Fredericq
received an $185,608 Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant
to visit banks and pinnacles where offshore seaweeds and macro
crustaceans have previously been documented. Dr. Azmy Ackleh, Dr.
Nabendu Pal and Dr. Natalia Sidorovskaia received a $912,197 RAPID
grant to assess the immediate impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill on near by resident populations of endangered whale species.
In addition, Dr. Bob Grambling of the Sociology Department is
collaborating as a Co-Principal Investigator on a $57,306 NSF grant
to study the impact of the media stories on the oil spill by
completing a content analysis of the media accounting and designing
and implementing a survey to measure residents’ understanding
of the event.
Shortly after the oil spill, BP announced a commitment of up to
$600 million for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) to study
the impact of the Deepwater Horizon incident and its effects on the
environment; as well as developing new technology in deepwater
oil exploration. Dr. Twilley along with three other Louisiana university
Vice Presidents/Vice Chancellors joined to develop an initiative
named the Gulf Research Institute for a Resilient Louisiana (GRI-
RL). GRI-RL will compete for the BP dollars to perform research.
“We are excited about our universities working collaboratively to
secure funding for research that will yield immediate short-term and
medium-term solutions for the on-going remediation and recovery
effort,” Twilley said. “We believe this will position Louisiana on
a roadmap for strategic and long-term sustainable development.
Obtaining even just a portion of these research dollars could make
a huge impact on our university.”
To learn more about research at UL Lafayette, please visit:
http://research.louisiana.edu/
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE FOUNDATION | 9 |