Newsroom: 2005
CNREP
Begins Hurricane Recovery Activities
(December 12, 2005)
CNREP personnel
from all disciplines have been participating in the analysis, assessment,
and recovery planning that have been taking place in Louisiana following
the devastating late-summer hurricanes of 2005. While the initial
post-storm estimates of damage to the state's agricultural and natural
resources runs into the billions of dollars, the actual replacement
of infrastructure and the rebuilding of industries requires a detailed
examination of the extent and location of the damage, as well as
consideration for how rebuilding efforts should be prioritized and
sited. Work in the coming months will prove critical to the long-term
success of Louisiana's recovery efforts, with CNREP researchers
and outreach professionals intimately involved in all aspects of
this work.
CNREP
Approved by Board of Supervisors
(October 10, 2005)
Following a
highly successful 18 months of initial operation, the Center for
Natural Resource Economics & Policy (CNREP) recently received
administrative approval from the Louisiana State University Board
of Supervisors to operate as an official LSU System center. CNREP,
by fostering the interaction of economic, social, and policy professionals
to address natural resource and environmental problems, provides
state and federal policy makers with an LSU-based source of research
and outreach support that are critical to address problems associated
with scarce natural resources and the environment. Specific program
areas within CNREP include, but are not limited, to: 1) Bioeconomics
of Energy Use; 2) Wetland Valuation and Economic Linkages; 3) Economic
Management of Fisheries; 4) Human Dimensions of Wildlife Habitat
Conservation; 5) Economics of Forest Management and Product Development;
and 6) Socioeconomics of Land and Water Policy.
Funding
Tops $1.7 Million
(October 8, 2005)
CNREP personnel
have been active in their pursuit of short-term (sponsored grants)
and long-term (institutional, foundation) funding to support the
center's resource and environmental economics programs. Recent funding
activities have generated over $1.74 million in new funding commitments
through 2009, and an additional $2.89 million in proposals are pending.
Current national sponsors include the National Sea Grant College
Program, National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Gulf and Atlantic
Fisheries Foundation. State sponsors of research and outreach projects
include the Department of Environmental Quality, Louisiana Sea Grant
College Program, and the Coastal Restoration & Enhancement through
Science & Technology (CREST) program. Details of many of the
funded projects can be obtained through the navigational links on
the left side of this page.
CNREP
Helps Coordinate Presidents' Forum
(September 25, 2005)
CNREP Director
Dr. Rex H. Caffey is coordinating, along with various campuses of
the LSU System, a series of meetings called the Presidents’
Forum on Meeting Coastal Challenges. The first of these forums,
held in January 2005, attracted more than 160 scientists and government
officials who met to discuss priorities for research on the socioeconomic
challenges faced by coastal residents and industries. The second
Presidents’ Forum, to be held in the spring of 2006, will
address specific issues related to the hurricane devastation that
occurred along the Gulf of Mexico coast.
Biocomplexity
Project Funded
(September 10, 2005)
In conjuction
with Cornell University, University of New Hampshire, University
of Illinois, and the World Resources Institute, CNREP researcher
Dr. John Westra received a 3-year grant from the National Science
Foundation to examine linkages between human and biogeochemical
processes in agricultural landscapes. This funding is provided by
the NSF program: Biocomplexity in the Environment: Integrated Research
and Education in Environmental Systems, Dynamics of Coupled Natural
and Human Systems.
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