Washington Mardi Gras
Since 1944, Louisianians have had a spirited presence in Washington, D.C., for the annual Washington Mardi Gras. During this year’s nearly week-long celebration, Mystick Krewe of Louisianians King Martin Svendson held a cocktail reception to raise money for a scholarship he and his wife started. Martin and wife Mary “Moo” Turner Svendson created the scholarship in memory of Moo’s father, Bert Turner, founder of Turner Industries. The Bert Turner Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to a full-time undergraduate student in the LSU School of the Coast & Environment.
Moo shared, “Through the business success Bert achieved, he made it possible for many of his children and grandchildren to enjoy Louisiana’s magnificent wetlands and coastal resources in a special way. Today, many of his children and grandchildren enjoy the fruits of the coast, including fishing, an abundant variety of seafood, incredible scenery and majestic wildlife. When time permitted, Bert enjoyed fishing offshore with fellow businessmen. He appreciated the bounty of the sea, which, as we know, originates in our precious, delicate and vanishing coastal wetlands.
“The Svendson family wanted to honor my father for his many contributions and successes and to originate a scholarship in his honor. This is one way of thanking him, while, at the same time, supporting an institution with a world-class coastal studies curriculum.”
Committed to the Coast
LSU recently launched “Committed to the Coast,” a campaign to raise coastal awareness by bringing attention to Louisiana’s impending coastal crisis, LSU’s coastal research and the impact of that research on Louisiana.
- LSU boasts 200 faculty members involved in coastal research, bringing in approximately $73 million in grants to focus attention on these critical issues.
- Louisiana contains 40 percent of the nation’s wetlands, but 80 percent of the nation’s wetland loss.
- An LSU engineering study recently demonstrated that more than 60 miles of vital New Orleans area evacuation routes are vulnerable to land loss and subsidence (i.e., sinking or falling) and could be lost by 2100.
- An LSU faculty member recently became the first scientist ever to accurately predict norovirus outbreaks in oyster beds when he detected contamination in Cameron Parish 30 days before the oysters were scheduled for harvest.
- An LSU research team discovered that introducing excess nitrogen can make a salt marsh literally fall apart in 5 to 7 years.
Published in Cornerstone Summer and Fall 2013.
Lauren Cathleen 