Louisiana Board of Regents

An award through the Enhancement Program for Two-Year Institutions has funded the upgrade of a physics laboratory, helping to develop student interest in and increase the educational quality of the Physics program at LSU-Eunice. The grant enabled purchase of advanced laboratory equipment, enhancement of existing equipment, and the introduction of computers into classrooms. A major benefit of the project was its public outreach, as project participants offered training to Vermilion Parish K-12 teachers during the summer to facilitate science learning in the classroom and introduced the general public to basic physics concepts during LSU Eunice Community Day.

A collection of research essays, including one by Dr. Robert Collins, Professor of Urban Studies at Dillard University, was recently published by the Brookings Institute. Utilizing 20 key indicators, The New Orleans Index at Five – An overview of Greater New Orleans: From Recovery to Transformation combines comprehensive trend analyses with seven scholar essays on key reforms and issues undertaken since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans in 2005. Writings from scholars address dynamics associated with long-range planning and recovery. The publication also takes into account the two other major events that have direct impact on the New Orleans area. Since Hurricane Katrina, the great recession, and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill have provided significant additional challenges to the recovery and planning processes.

Nicholls State University’s Department of Biological Sciences, funded by the BoRSF Post-Katrina Support Fund Initiative, continues its trend of student success with its Undergraduate Research Training & Education Initiative. This program provides freshman and sophomore level undergraduates with intensive yearlong laboratory instruction and mentoring in multiple biology disciplines. It incorporates enrichment activities as well as on-site observation and training and places emphasis on issues being addressed by modern-day biology professionals.

The Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) network links supercomputer resources across the state and centers around one of the Top 25 supercomputers in the world. This 50 Teraflop core supercomputer, known as Queen Bee, is capable of performing 50 trillion floating point calculations per second.

One of the unusual aspects of long-running Southern University’s Project MISE is that both in-service and pre-service teachers collaborate by working in small groups to provide interconnections between participants, and to create and maintain mutually beneficial dialogs. Pre-service teachers shadow in-service teachers through class observations and scheduled field trips to the LIGO Livingston Science Education Center. LIGO snacks are used prior to field trip and/or after to reinforce site observations.

Through a BoRSF Enhancement grant Grambling State University improved its general, organic, practical inorganic, and physical chemistry, biochemistry/molecular biology, and forensic chemistry labs, as well as those for instrumental analysis. The goal of this broad-based upgrade is to inspire future professionals who will apply chemistry in innovative ways to generate new technology. In the time since installation of the equipment, several undergraduate research projects have addressed important and novel ideas, and prepared students for graduate training and the scientific workforce.

Through a top-ranked Traditional Enhancement award in the Business discipline, Tulane University will enhance its existing energy market education facility to complement a new master’s program as well as established certificate programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. Directed by Dr. Geoffrey Parker, the project will enable development of a more realistic “trading room” and build capacity at a facility that is unique in Louisiana and the United States.

The LSU Agricultural Center used a Traditional Enhancement award to upgrade the Louisiana Agriclimatic Information System to provide an enhanced, one-stop, full-service agricultural weather information system. This is a vital tool for Louisiana’s agriculture industry, and Support Fund monies provided critical improvements and updated equipment to ensure accurate and immediate readings and steady connectivity throughout the statewide network of electronic weather stations.

Imagine being able to visualize ripples in the fabric of space-time or phenomena 1/1000th the size of an atom’s nucleus. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facility in Livingston, LA provides these experiences with the interactive kiosks developed by Louisiana scientists funded by an NSF EPSCoR grant.

The Board of Regents’ Endowed First-Generation Undergraduate Scholarships Program provides State matching for private-sector or institutional contributions, to establish endowed scholarships to be awarded to students who are the first generation in their immediate family to pursue postsecondary education. Interest earnings from the endowment provide a scholarship to the student, which is supplemented by meaningful campus employment.