Genius loves company: Nancy Rabalais, LSU adjunct professor in the School of the Coast & Environment, and director the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, or LUMCON, has been awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “Genius Grant.” “I knew about the prestigious award and have always honored it, but never thought I would ever be one. It is truly an honor,” Rabalais says in a statement. As a marine ecologist, she was selected for “documenting the environmental and economic consequences of hypoxic zones in the Gulf of Mexico and informing strategies for restoring the degraded waters of the Gulf and the Mississippi River basin.” LSU has all the details here.
All exits look the same: Road crews today began the second of four phases on Green Light Plan work at the intersection of O’Neal Lane and South Harrell’s Ferry Road, and city-parish officials say it will have some impacts on traffic. Phase two work will restrict left-turns at the intersection to allow work crews access to the center of the intersection. Additionally, the south leg of O’Neal Lane at the intersection will remain closed to traffic. The closures are expected to last for 48 days. Police officers will be present to help traffic flow during periods of heavy traffic volume and Department of Public Works officials will also be on hand to closely monitor traffic at the intersection throughout this second phase of construction, officials say.
Feet to the fire: BP and the Coast Guard were excoriated today by Louisiana’s Republican U.S. senator who charged the oil giant was trying to “run away from its full cleanup responsibilities” two years after the nation’s worst offshore oil spill and that federal regulators are “too cozy” with BP. U.S. Sen. David Vitter criticized the cleanup at a field briefing in New Orleans of the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Vitter, a member of the committee, and other Louisiana officials contend the Coast Guard has allowed BP to wind down cleanup operations prematurely. The Coast Guard denied that today. Although invited to appear, BP did not have a representative at the Senate briefing.
