Research and Technology

Gabriela Gonzalez was selected to participate in a National Academy of Sciences panel called “Astro 2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.” Astro 2010 will survey the field of space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics, recommending priorities for the most important scientific and technical activities of the decade 2010-2020. Gonzalez will serve on the Program Prioritization Panel for programs in the Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation section.

A team of 13 LSU researchers and students, led by faculty at the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, conducted a black hole simulation presentation and demonstration that won first prize at the SCALE 2009 challenge at CCGrid09, a premier conference for cluster and Grid computing. The SCALE 2009 competition, which took place in Shanghai, China, involved researchers demonstrating real-world problem solving using scalable computing, in which scientists use computer systems that can easily adapt, or scale up, to provide greater performance and computing power and give them greater capability to solve complex problems.

Elizabeth Derryberry, post-doctoral researcher at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, found a link between alterations in bird songs and the rapid change in the surrounding habitat. Using aerial photographs to map the vegetation and habitat changes that took place between 1970 and 2005, Derryberry was able to determine that in places where plant growth had increased, bird songs were slowing down.

Three LSU researchers - Mark Batzer, Brent Christner and Ken Schafer - were included in Discover Magazine’s Top 100 Research Stories of 2008.

Three LSU researchers - Jim Matthews, John Wefel and T. Gregory Guzik - were included in the American Institute of Physics’ Top 10 Stories of 2008. The three LSU professors were included for their work with cosmic rays.

Robert Carney, professor of oceanography, is leading a team of scientists from the United States and France through the final stages of a project that, when complete, will yield the most comprehensive details ever of the flora and fauna of the continental slopes. Carney and his research partners at LSU are in charge of studying the continental slopes in a project titled COMARGE, or Continental Margin Ecosystems. This is just part of the international effort called “Census of Marine Life.” In December 2007, Discover Magazine called the “Census of Marine Life” one of the six most important experiments in the world.

Human Ecology Professor Loren Marks, along with two colleagues, published one of the first – if not only – positive studies hallmarking positive, long-lasting African-American marriages. The study, Together, We Are Strong: A Qualitative Study of Happy, Enduring African American Marriages, was published in Family Relations in April 2008.

The LSU Museum of Natural Science is currently one of the nation's largest natural history museums, with holdings of over 2.5 million specimens and is the only comprehensive research museum in the south-central United States.

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) scientific ballooning program is led by the LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy who also lead the High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) balloon project and offer the LaACES student ballooning program.

Chris Austin, assistant curator of herpetology at LSU's Museum of Natural Science and adjunct professor in biological sciences, has discovered several new species of amphibians during his research in New Guinea, Borneo and Sri Lanka.

Each year, the Laboratory for Creative Arts & Technologies at LSU’s Center for Computation & Technology hosts the Red Stick International Animation Festival, the largest event of its kind in the United States. The festival draws renowned animators, video game developers and other digital media industry professionals to Baton Rouge to host lectures, workshops and other events for aspiring artists, programmers and entrepreneurs.

LSU is one of only a handful of universities nationwide to be designated a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution. It is the only public university in Louisiana designated as having very high research activity (RU/VH) by the prestigious Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the highest ranking awarded to doctorate-granting institutions.

LSU currently ranks among the top 30 public universities in total research awards. The University's total federal funding; from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Homeland Security; has increased 86 percent or more than $90 million over the last five years.