LSU Experimental

What information about Mars is locked in minerals on Earth? How can we learn about possible life on Mars from these Earth minerals? Don Hood, PhD Candidate and Allison Barbato, B.S.,members of LSU’s Planetary Science Lab in the Department of Geology & Geophysics, are heading to Sri Lanka to investigate serpentine mineral deposits to learn more about their formation and possible links to the serpentine minerals discovered on Mars. They share with us aspects of their upcoming research trip, why your support is needed, and skills they have each gained along their geology careers to ensure a successful mission.

Have you ever heard sixty metronomes slowly going out of sync? What about a line the size of a telephone wire being plucked like a string? Listen to how Edgar Berdahl, Assistant Professor of Experimental Music and Digital Media in the LSU School of Music and the Center for Computation & Technology, takes seemingly impossible ideas and make them a musical reality. Additional works can be heard at Experimental Music & Digital Media (emdm.music.lsu.edu), including upcoming performances and projects.

When you think about a mobile home, what do you picture? Mobile homes may illicit many stereotypes that extend beyond the physical structure, affecting the people that inhabit them. Dr. Annemarie Galeucia, Student & Faculty Development Coordinator with LSU’s Communication across the Curriculum and from the Department of Geography and Anthropology, shares with us her dissertation research on mobile home communities and the common misconceptions people hold about them.

When an animal’s home conditions change, they have four options: move, acclimate, evolve, or die. Dr. Melissa DeBiasse, former postdoc in Dr. Morgan Kelly’s lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University, shares how genetics can help determine which option they will choose, how she studies copepods and their adaptations, and what she’d tell her younger self now that’s she’s a postdoc in the Ryan Lab at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida.

Can plant promiscuity address the 1.4 trillion dollar toll invasive species take on the world each year? Dr. Metha Klock, postdoctorial associate at Cornell University and former member of the Dr. Kyle Harms lab in the Department of Biological Sciences, shares how the mutualism between plants and fungi can unlock the patterns behind species invasion.

Coyotes vs wolves; how do we know which animal dominated the southeast U.S. 1000 years ago? Historic DNA of course! Dr. Sabrina Taylor Associate Professor from the School of Renewable Natural Resources shares how she uses historic DNA to unlock the mysteries surrounding century old changes in species population size, range, and disease susceptibility. Her lab not only answers these puzzling questions, but directly implements them into conservation management for endangered species.

How do you measure things that move really fast? With light, of course! Dr. Mette Gaarde, Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, explains how ultrafast pulses of light - think a billionth of a billionth of a second - can be used to uncover very fast processes, like the early stages of a chemical reaction. Along with her research, we learn about what inspired her to become a physicist.

Not only does Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Curator of Fishes at Louisiana State University’s Museum of Natural Science, travel the world for science - he is an active science communicator! Prosanta is a past TEDxLSU and TED speaker, he was a TED Fellow - a group of “rising stars in their field” impacting the global community, and was recently named TED 2018 Senior Fellow. We catch up with Prosanta in his office following the announcement of being named TED Senior Fellow to learn more about his TED experiences, recent research adventures, and advice for for sharing your science. Music by PCIII, Bramby at Full Gallop available from Free Music Archive.

We are surrounded by single-use plastic. We dispose of plastic bags, water bottles, and coffee stirrers quickly after their uses, yet their existence remains. These persistent plastics find their way into our waterways, leaching toxic chemicals and breaking down into smaller and smaller microscopic pieces, eventually corrupting the entire food web. Dr. Mark Benfield with the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences in the College of Coast & Environment shares his recent research on microplastics in the Mississippi River, which may soon be known as the river of plastic.

How can small, blind cave fishes aid in uncovering the story of continental movement? Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty, Associate Professor in Biological Sciences and Curator of Fishes at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, travels the world researching the morphology and DNA of fish species to uncover pieces of the world’s deep evolutionary and geological puzzles.