Dr. Kyle Piller serves as the Director of the Lake Maurepas Monitoring Project and is Professor and Curator of Vertebrates in the Department of Biological Sciences. He is an ichthyologist with more than 25 years of experience studying fishes in the southeastern United States. He will oversee the aquatic (fishes, shrimp, crabs, and clams) and eDNA monitoring in Lake Maurepas. For more information: www.kylepiller.com
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Chris Murray is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. He is a physiological ecologist who will take the lead on data collection and analyses focusing on physiological stress, endocrine disruption, heavy metal markers, and organismal gas gradients. Dr. Murray is also a crocodilian expert and in addition to analyzing physiological metrics, he also will enumerate alligator nests and demographically monitor the Maurepas alligator population via mark-recapture and movement analysis. For more information: https://sites.google.com/site/murracm/
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Eva Hillmann is an Instructor in the Department of Biological Sciences. She is a professional wetland scientist and coastal ecologist, with more than 15 years of experience in coastal Louisiana. She has worked extensively in the Maurepas Basin and throughout the Pontchartrain estuary, focusing on wetland plant communities, restoration, and blue carbon dynamics. She and her team will monitor wetland plant growth and elevation change in the Maurepas Swamp. Her work will also include bioremediation through annual plantings of 2,000 cypress and tupelo seedlings. In addition to tracking vegetation and elevation trends, she will assess carbon storage in soils and biomass and quantify carbon flux rates between soils and the atmosphere. Dr. Hillmann has led large-scale restoration initiatives, including the planting of over 100,000 trees across Southeast Louisiana. She has developed science-based monitoring protocols and managed long-term datasets to inform wetland management. Her research background includes submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), estuarine ecology, and the role of wetland habitats in climate mitigation.
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Moreau is manager of the Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station. Dr. Moreau, the Community Outreach Coordinator, and his team will be responsible for the design, development, and implementation of activities that highlight our independent monitoring activities in Lake Maurepas. His team will be responsible for the creation and hosting of special public events and education/outreach activities related to the community outreach portion of our project. In addition, he will assist the research teams with access to Lake Maurepas through the use of Southeastern’s Galva Canal Facility and Turtle Cove boats.
Email: [email protected]