Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
School of Geosciences
The School of Geosciences recognizes that the sustainability of energy and environmental resources are two of the biggest scientific challenges we face nationally and globally. They aim to equip students — the next generation of scientists — with the tools they need to work in these fields and address our complex problems. Research opportunities are endless in southern Louisiana, where petroleum exploration and production is booming — and where more than 40 percent of the country's wetlands are. There's a skyrocketing demand for geologists and environmental scientists. In a place with strong industrial and agricultural traditions, the UL Lafayette School of Geosciences is in the thick of it all.
Faculty and students in the School of Geosciences conduct a wide-variety of globally and locally relevant research. Topics include (but are not limited to):
- carbon sequestration
- petrophysics
- paleomagnetics
- stable isotope geochemistry (for climate proxies and other applications)
- petroleum geochemistry
- water sustainability
- geodynamics
- water quality
- paleontology
- exploration geophysics
- Biology Department
Biology Department
The Biology Department is actively engaged in research and education as part of one of the largest biology programs located on the Gulf Coast. Students are involved in research at all levels. We conduct laboratory research in diverse areas of biology ranging from biomedical to environmental and evolutionary biology, and many of us do field research throughout the Americas, including the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Panama, North Atlantic, and Amazon Basin. We also work in close collaboration with state and federal partners to expand research and training opportunities for our students. For example, the LUMCON marine laboratory in Cocodrie, Louisiana, provides laboratory facilities, small boats, and large marine vessels in support of research along our coast. The USGS National Wetlands Research Center and the NOAA Estuarine Habitats and Coastal Fisheries Center in the UL Lafayette Research Park provide additional research opportunities. This is a great area to be a biologist because of our diverse opportunities for lab and field research.
Chemistry Department
The Department of Chemistry research faculty are always working to forward the advancement of chemistry. Below are just some of the topics of current research within the department.
- Monitoring the environmental pollution caused by chlorinated hydrocarbons and determination of hydrocarbons, especially Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in environmental samples using gas chromatography technique.
- Extraction and removal of pollutants such as PAHs and heavy toxic metals and organic dyes from environmental systems using ecofriendly adsorbents.
- Extraction, purification, and characterization of β-carotene and ascorbic acid from different types of algae, using high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometric techniques.
- Hands on GC-FID, GC-MS, Atomic absorption, ICP, and UV-vis instruments. Carbon Dioxide Fixation: Recently, we have been involved in the synthesis of a series of polynuclear metal(II) complexes that efficiently can absorb the atmospheric CO2 from the air and convert it into carbonate that bridges several metal ions that can serve as the green chlorophyll and hence reduce the global warming
- Formation of biodiesel from new feed stocks such as animal waste (alligator fat) and the analysis of carbohydrates in sweet potatoes and rice in conjunction with the Chemical Engineering department.