Environmental journalists to tour Southeastern's Turtle Cove
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
by: Rene Abadie
HAMMOND – The Society of Environmental Journalists conference attendees will tour Southeastern Louisiana University's Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station this week.
Reporters and editors from throughout the nation will visit the center, located on Pass Manchac, on Thursday (Sept. 4) as part of the conference's field trip, "Louisiana's Great Lakes, Cypress Swamps and Woodpeckers." The tour also includes a visit to the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge.
"We're pleased to be on the schedule for this influential group of journalists, so that we can help explain some of the environmental impacts on coastal wetland loss in our region," said Turtle Cove Director Rob Moreau. "We will also outline what some of our own researchers and graduate students are doing regarding wetland ecology and restoration and what we do from an educational outreach perspective."
The journalists will tour the Turtle Cove complex itself, which has been fully restored following Hurricane Katrina, and walk the boardwalk located behind the station with its signs identifying 55 different species of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, fish and vegetation that inhabit the Manchac wetlands. On the pontoon boat rides to and from the station, Moreau will discuss the environmental history of the area, including the socio-economic, cultural and natural history.
Owned and operated by Southeastern, Turtle Cove plays a valuable role as a center of research for Southeastern faculty and graduate students, as well as those from other colleges and universities. The center also maintains an important outreach program, providing educational tours and experiences for area schools.
For more information on Turtle Cove, visit the website southeastern.edu/turtlecove.
