News Release

Southeastern to host conference on Lake Pontchartrain Basin Research Oct. 27-29


Contact: Rene Abadie

10/20/11



     HAMMOND – A three-day conference on research in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin will be held at Southeastern Louisiana University Oct. 27 - 29.
     “Basics of the Basin 2011: Commemorating 10 Years of Research” will be co-hosted by the university with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Southeastern’s Pontchartrain Basin Research Program (PBRP), the UNO Pontchartrain Restoration Program (PRP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
     Keynote speaker at the conference will be U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). Vitter will speak at the initial conference luncheon on Thursday in Southeastern’s Twelve Oaks Ballroom. Friday’s keynote will be presented by Mark Schleifstein, environmental reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. 
     In addition to the 42 oral presentations and 18 poster presentations taking place in technical sessions over the first two days on campus, other special guest lectures will be made by Virgina Burkette of the U.S. Geological Survey on climate change; Sam Hyde, director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies at Southeastern on the history of the Pontchartrain Basin; and David Burley, assistant professor of environmental sociology at Southeastern.
     The program is open to the public, and pre-registration is preferred. The full agenda and registration information can be found at www2.selu.edu/orgs/pbrp/Basics_Registration.html.
     Conference coordinators are Robert Moreau, director of Southeastern’s Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station in Pass Manchac, and Nick Norton, professor of biological sciences and the director of Southeastern’s PBRP. Moreau said the event will include presentations on a wide range of projects in the basin, which touches 16 Louisiana parishes and covers about 5,000 square miles.
     Researchers will discuss projects being conducted in the Bonnet Carre Spillway, area wetlands, and on the North Shore. Sessions will also be devoted to river diversions, conservation and restoration, environmental disturbances such as oil spills, and issues related to pollution. 
     Saturday will include field trips for participants to the Hammond Waste Water Effluent Area near Ponchatoula and to Turtle Cove.
     Call 985-549-5008 for more information.



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