Louisiana State University Agricultural Center

NSF Awards · FY 2026 · 2026-09

Humans are directly dependent on plants for the majority of caloric intake and indirectly through the ecosystem services they provide. Fungi are among the most economically important plant pathogens in both agricultural and non-agricultural populations, influencing the structure and productivity of plant populations. Mitigating disease caused by these fungal pathogens requires an accurate understanding of species richness, their distribution, their relationships to other pathogenic species, the plant species they infect, and the genetic features that allow them to be pathogens. Cercospora species are fungi that are known to cause disease on nearly every major crop plant in the world, including important staples (e.g. rice). However, these fundamental questions - How many species are there? Where are they found? What host species do they impact? What genetic features allow them to cause disease on some hosts and not others? - need to be addressed in a modern context to enable research into mitigating their impacts. The goals of the project are to answer these questions and develop an accessible data interface that will allow other researchers to leverage this information to ultimately mitigate disease. While fungi have long been overlooked, training will be provided to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to be the next generation of fungal biologists helping to solve global issues caused by fungi. Understanding how fungi impact plant populations requires a natural classification scheme that can be cross-referenced with ecological, morphological, geographical, or any trait-based information to better understand the life history of individual species. This information has enormous ecological and economic impacts because fungi are the most economically important plant pathogens. The genus Cercospora is among the most speciose genera of fungi, but our understanding of species limits and evolutionary relationships is constrained by a lack of accessible data. This project will address this gap by (i) producing a phylogenomic-based revision of the genus Cercospora and assessing global species richness of one of the most ubiquitous and economically important foliar fungi on the planet, (ii) characterize genome and transcriptome evolution across the genus, and (iii) produce an integrative database collating metadata that facilitates hypothesis testing in a phylogenetic framework. Data will be collected from type specimens, field work conducted in North America, and modern collections for genomic/transcriptomic studies developed. New species will be described, and barcode loci for the cost-effective integration of collections from around the world developed. A framework for integrating multiple data layers through relational databases that are linked to a hierarchical phylogenetic structure will be made available through a dedicated web interface to researchers interested in exploring hypotheses in Cercospora evolution, identifying new Cercospora isolates and species, expanding on existing data or adding new data layers. This interface will allow a broad group of users, from molecular biologists to applied plant pathologists, to explore hypotheses and develop solutions to fundamental and applied problems. The next generation of taxonomists in mycology, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics will be trained to help mitigate the impacts of fungal plant pathogens. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2025 · 2025-07

This project is a comprehensive, statewide initiative that will build strategic research and development capacity in Louisiana for the conversion of agricultural residues to liquid transportation fuels. The research will identify ways to use electricity for enhancing efficiency in converting low-value byproducts into high-value fuel components. Chemistry, engineering, and data science will guide process improvements through advanced modeling and analysis. An economic analysis will assess the financial viability of these processes, evaluating market potential, cost efficiency, and long-term benefits for farmers and industry stakeholders within Louisiana. Education and workforce development at universities and a partnering community college will target energy technology, and include STEM outreach to K-12 schools. The collaborative project will be led by Louisiana State University (LSU) and the LSU AgCenter. Partner institutions are Louisiana Tech University, River Parishes Community College, Southern University, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. This project will advance biomass-derived transportation fuels by integrating thermochemical conversion and electrocatalytic upgrading to improve overall efficiencies. Electricity will enhance conversion by transforming liquid and gaseous byproducts into viable fuel sources. Bench-scale experiments will enable rapid testing and data generation. Data-driven modeling, machine learning, and economic analyses will optimize production and assess cost-effectiveness. The initiative will expand Louisiana’s research capacity through faculty hires, research laboratory upgrades, and access to shared research facilities. It will integrate research with workforce training, preparing students and professionals for careers in energy technology and fuel production. Educational programs will provide hands-on training, STEM outreach, and technical instruction to build expertise in bio-electric fuels. Expanding research infrastructure and workforce development will create opportunities for industry collaborations and partnerships. By integrating research, education, and industry engagement, the project will position Louisiana as a leader in bio-electric fuel technology. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence (E-RISE). E-RISE supports the development of sustainable research infrastructure and capacity in EPSCoR jurisdictions through collaborative, hypothesis-driven, or problem-driven research and workforce development to improve competitiveness in selected STEM fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2024 · 2024-10

Floods are constantly threatening built environments and community well-being in the state of Louisiana. Floods will continue to worsen in the future with climate change. Communities must make critical decisions around flood risk mitigation and adaptation measures now. This project tackles these pressing challenges around climate change and decision-making by developing and implementing an innovative, interactive flood mitigation software application platform. The platform is designed to allow stakeholders to explore, simulate, and evaluate current and future floodplain ordinance impacts on flood risk metrics. The project will design, develop, and deploy a novel, use-inspired flood mitigation sandbox software application to support risk-informed decision-making into the future. The research team is composed of public, private, and academic partners, alongside decision-makers from five Louisiana parishes. The project integrates various data sets, each contributing uniquely, and employs statistical techniques to comprehensively assess flood hazards, economic consequences, building vulnerability, and population impact. Through this project, these techniques combined will provide a holistic understanding of both current and future flood risk. The goal is to develop socially responsible and scientifically robust solutions by creating a flood mitigation sandbox tool that integrates community input with scientific research. By engaging stakeholders in the co-production and evaluation of the mitigation measures and widely disseminating project progress across sectors, the approach will foster collaboration within the scientific community and empower stakeholders to adopt evidence-based approaches, driving positive change in resilience-building efforts. The project emphasizes clear risk communication and reproducible methods, ensuring that the results are widely applicable and beneficial to low-capacity communities. This comprehensive approach will set new standards for flood risk management and community resilience, fostering collaboration and innovation across academic, industry, government, and non-profit sectors. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The frequency of different extreme environmental events poses a significant threat to the health of people, livestock, and agriculture by causing economic disruption that affects local communities. For instance, heat and drought are expected to reduce soybean yields by 40%, and these effects are predicted to be particularly severe in most Southern US soybean-growing areas. To address this challenge, this project brings together a team of scientists, educators, social and economic researchers, extension specialists, and outreach professionals. They will assess the impact of changes in the environment on soybean yields, from the cellular level to the whole plant, as well as on associated microbial communities, utilizing advanced technologies and artificial intelligence. The team will also develop solutions to boost soybean yields. The impacts of this project will be evaluated by social and economic scientists. The project also focuses on education and workforce development. An important goal of this project is to train and support students, teachers, and early-career researchers. The project provides training for teachers and students and will reach thousands of K-12 students annually. The results of the project will also benefit other crops and improve food security both in the US and globally. By integrating innovative research with education and community outreach, the team will build a sustainable future for agriculture and positively impact affected communities. To combat the decline of soybean yield, this initiative conducts extensive research from "single cell to field-based phenomics." The team includes 11 STEM experts, social and economic scientists, extension specialists, and outreach professionals. The project aims to enhance soybean resilience to heat and drought through five key strategies by generating single-cell level data, using advanced sensing to collect detailed morphological and physiological data, evaluating soil chemistry, root structures, and microbial communities, utilizing network science and Artificial Intelligence to find novel RNA markers and beneficial microbes, and testing selected markers and microbes in field conditions. The project aims to enhance sustainable soybean production by understanding stress responses from cellular to field levels. It integrates data from diverse scientific disciplines to develop precision agriculture solutions and assess their impacts. Moreover, the project employs a comprehensive, multipronged approach with eight programs to train a STEM workforce. Overall, the project aims to advance knowledge from single-cell -omics to phenomics, develop strategies that integrate data from various scientific fields and technologies, provide precision agriculture solutions using cultured microbes in field conditions, and assess the impact on a range of communities. Moreover, it will broaden the pipeline for individuals to enter STEM research careers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Awards · FY 2024 · 2024-08

Maintaining water balance is an increasing challenge for organisms living in drier and warmer environments under climate change. Insects, the most diverse organisms on Earth, are particularly vulnerable to water loss due to their small body size and high metabolic rates. To mitigate the risks of desiccation, insects are equipped with various physiological strategies, such as producing a waterproof barrier on their body surface, altering breathing patterns, and reducing water excretion. However, there is limited understanding of the extent of flexibility in their physiology over their lifetime to cope with changing environments, and even less is known about species living underground that play vital ecological roles. Subterranean termites are widespread wood decomposers, yet some species are serious structural pests, making them an ecologically and economically important group. This study explores how subterranean termites adjust their physiological responses to alterations in soil moisture and temperature, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying this flexibility, by examining six termite species inhabiting different climate regions across the United States. This understanding carries significant implications for predicting the resilience and susceptibility of termites to climate change and human impacts, thereby informing conservation and management strategies. The research findings will be disseminated through a workshop for the pest control industry and through the development of educational materials for the public. Termites cause billions of dollars of damage in the US each year, thus the work has strong implications for advancing knowledge related to the bio-economy. Furthermore, this project will support underrepresented undergraduate students in conducting summer research projects, while also offering interdisciplinary training opportunities for junior scientists. Determining the acclimation capacity and the mechanisms for organisms to adjust to environmental shifts is critical for understanding the ecological consequences of climate change. While diverse habitats are projected to be affected by droughts and temperature increases, little is known about either the desiccation physiology or the acclimation responses of organisms in subterranean ecosystems. The overall goal of this project is to characterize the acclimation capacity for desiccation resistance and the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms in subterranean termites. Driven by the hypothesis that greater plasticity in desiccation physiology allows species to better acclimate to drier environments, this research will examine the acclimation responses of six subterranean termite species that represent different phylogenetic statuses and climate adaptation types. Upon acclimation to different soil moisture and temperature conditions, termites will be analyzed for their phenotypic responses to desiccation stress and for physiological changes in desiccation resistance traits, including cuticular hydrocarbon profile, spiracle respiration pattern, and body water reservoir. This study will further investigate their transcriptomic plasticity and the molecular mechanisms underlying the acclimation responses. The results will uncover the conserved and divergent mechanisms governing plasticity in termite desiccation physiology, and will facilitate future proximate and evolutionary investigations of species across taxa and ecological niches. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.