Louisiana "dead zone" scientist wins $500,000 MacArthur "Genius Grant" By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune 5 October 2012Each fall, marine ecologist Nancy Rabalais pours a bottle of oxygen-starved water from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico into an urn at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge. It’s part of an annual water rite at the church. Most [...]

Scientist honored for work off coast By AMY WOLD, The Advocate3 October 2012 While attending an oceanography conference in Mexico several weeks ago, Nancy Rabalais got a call from a phone number she didn’t recognize. “Do you know what the MacArthur Foundation is?” a voice on the phone asked. Rabalais, a research scientist and the executive [...]

LUMCON director wins Genius Grant' By Nikki Buskey, The Courier2 October 2012  Nancy Rabalais, director of LUMCON.   A local scientist has been awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “Genius Grant.” Nancy Rabalais, director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in Cocodrie, or LUMCON, is a marine ecologist best known for her [...]

Fish die by thousands along Galvestons beaches By Chris Paschenko, The Daily News13 August 2012 Photo by Jennifer Reynolds - See More Photos   Stan Lewis of Dallas rakes dead fish into a pile away from his family’s tent at Bermuda Beach in Galveston on Sunday. Thousands of dead fish littered the beaches on the West End. [...]

Fish kill linked to red tide By Chris Paschenko, The Daily News14 August 2012 Stan Lewis of Dallas rakes dead fish away from his family’s tent at Bermuda Beach in Galveston on Sunday. Officials said a red tide could be responsible for the fish kill.  Photo by Jennifer Reynolds  GALVESTON — Low to moderate concentrations of [...]

WATER POLLUTION: Three Ohio River states sign on to largest-ever credit-trading plan By Paul Quinlan, Greenwire, E&E News9 August 2012Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio state officials signed an agreement this morning to launch a pilot program that aims to reduce water pollution in the Ohio River by allowing trading of pollution credits between industrial facilities and [...]

EPA gives La grant to help fight dead zone, Vitter says By The Associated Press8 August 2012U.S. Sen. David Vitter says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will award a $100,000 grant to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to help fight the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone." Dinah Rogers, The Times-Picayune archiveThe Mississippi River at the point [...]

Small Gulf of Mexico dead zone likely due to drought By Deanna Conners, Earth Trekker Blog, EarthSky 8 August 2012    The 2012 Gulf of Mexico dead zone is the fourth smallest since mapping began in 1985 – likely due to drought-induced low amounts of runoff into the Mississippi.   The oxygen-starved dead zone in [...]

Researcher: Smaller 'dead zone' recorded in Gulf By Associated Press28 July 2012NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A new report says this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone," an area of low oxygen that develops every spring and summer, is the fourth-smallest since measurements of the zones began in 1985. The zone measured 2,889 square miles, according [...]

Gulf of Mexico's dead zone is smaller in size, not impact: An editorial By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune 31 July 2012Scientists say the dead zone off Louisiana's coast this summer is one of the smallest since mapping began 27 years ago, but that's not cause for celebration.   The area of low oxygen didn't shrink this year because [...]