Ep. 031 - Connecting Research, Education, and Industry with Brian Roberts

In this episode of Bridging the Bayou, Chancellor Kristine Strickland sits down with Brian Roberts, Executive Director and Chief Scientist of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).

Brian shares how LUMCON is advancing coastal and marine science through research, education, and partnerships across Louisiana. Together, they discuss protecting Louisiana's coast, inspiring the next generation of scientists, expanding opportunities through the Blue Works facility, and the importance of collaboration between education, industry, and the community. 

Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) - https://www.lumcon.edu

Fletcher Technical Community College - https://www.fletcher.edu

Follow Your Inspiration (corporate) – Music by ArtIssizm on Pixabay

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Welcome to Bridging the Bayou, where we will explore what it means to work, live, and play in the Bayou region. Join us as we take a deeper dive into the people and experiences that make our region such a special place to live and work. On each podcast, we will talk to individuals who are making our region grow and go, who are making strides in uplifting our community. This year, Fletcher Technical Community College is celebrating its 75th anniversary, 75 years of changing lives. This is a podcast of Fletcher Technical Community College. Welcome to Bridging the Bayou, the podcast of Fletcher Technical Community College. I am your hostess with the mostest, Chancellor Christine Strickland. And excited to be coming back in the studio today with a wonderful partner, special guest, Brian Roberts, executive director and chief scientists of Lumcon. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

All right. You know what? Normally we start off with like this little five and five thing I love to do. I just want to get to know people better. But I'll bet money there are folks out there watching or listening who maybe have heard LUMCON, might know it, but don't realize maybe that it stands for something. So, real quick, can you tell us what LUMCON stands for?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Yeah, I probably have staff that I'm not sure what LumCon stands for. Um but it stands for Louisiana University's Marine Consortium.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

That's the reason why we say LUMCON.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Got it, LumCon. And we're gonna dive a little bit more into what that means here in a few minutes. But I would like to get to know you better. So if you will indulge me for a few minutes, uh, I have just a few questions for you.

SPEAKER_03 1:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

All right, let's do it. Um, so your life is um being made into a movie, and there is a soundtrack that accompanies that. Either what kind of music or what song is playing in your best moments?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Wow, that's that's a tough one. Uh because your best moments sometimes they're really dramatic, so you ought to something else. I mean, I think as an undertone to things, I would like some classic jazz music, some John Coltrane, Miles Davis, things like that. Um, when you got some sort of mellow, happy things, Grateful Dead would be probably something right up there, yeah, that goes in there. Um I can see that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

So all right. Uh something small that can instantly make your day.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Just the smile on my kid's face.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

That's great. Yeah, absolutely. And as as they approach teen years, they're they're there.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

It sometimes it takes a little bit of effort to get that smile, but you know, and they're now 18 and 16 as of last month. So it's hard to believe.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Holy cow, yeah, you've got one heading out, huh?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yeah, pretty soon. They're coming soon.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Excellent. All right. Um, you can master any skill overnight, and it can be real or fictional. What skill are you trying to master and why?

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Uh, I guess it'd be some skill that allows me to fly or move somewhere because I have to travel so much to be able to get someplace and not spend so much of my time in transit, which just seems like what I do. Just would allow me to enjoy all the events and things that I do if I was able to get there without having the transit associated with it.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Yeah. You know what? I would 100% agree with that. There was some sort of like mini uh, I don't know, backpack I could put on and I could learn to fly. I would I would do it in a heartbeat. Although I really am not a big fan of flying, so I say that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Well, then teleporting. Something that gets you.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Teleporting is even better. All right. What is one place that feels like home to you, even though maybe you don't live there?

SPEAKER_01 3:55

I'd say anytime we get to go back to upstate New York, the Finger Lakes region, which is where I met my wife, that is probably where I feel the most at home when I'm away from where I've been now for 18 years.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Okay. Are you originally from New York?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

I'm originally from upstate New York, but I've been in I've had 41 mailing addresses in my life. Oh my goodness. And I've been in the same house for over 18 years. So I moved a lot when I was growing up and through yeah, before I came here.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Interesting. We might have to talk about that a little bit more. All right. Someone is making a documentary. We're back on that movie. Somebody's making a documentary about your life. What would you like the title to be?

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Wow, these aren't easy.

unknown 4:34

I know.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

I see some of those. I've seen some of these other ones, and those are a lot more straightforward. Go back to like, you know, favorite movie or things like that. That are easier. What is your favorite movie? Uh so uh I would probably say uh something I could watch anytime would be The Princess Bride.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Uh-huh. Very good. Um we could title it As You Wish.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

I I I think that uh Carrie Uls uh actually wrote a book about the making of the movie that was called As You Wish. But how about to go along with that theme, Inconceivable?

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Love that. Oh my God. That's a great title. That is a great title. Well, I know that they weren't easy, but thank you for playing along. My pleasure. You know, we did. We got to know you a little bit better. I had no idea uh the New York or mailing addresses. And I did not realize your kids were that old.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Um trying to hold them down as they grow, anyways.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

It's it's just the way that's because of when we met, but in my mind, they're like little litty babies still.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

So um, I think I saw the pictures of them at that age on my lab door. That's if you've done a tour of LumpCon, you make season that they permanently that age.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

They just say that age. Sometimes we wish they would, right? All right, well, let's turn our attention, let's talk a little bit about Lumcon. Okay. I know you guys are doing some spectacular things there, but I want to back up to that first question I asked, which was what is Lumcon? And so Louisiana University's Maritime or Marine? Marine. Marine Consortium. So tell us a little bit about like fundamentally, what does that mean? What do you do? I think many people don't realize that you really do partner with institutions all over the state. Um, that's that consortium part. But talk to us about that, talk to us about the mission, like why does LumCon exist?

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Actually, it's pretty interesting. Our librarian, John Conover, was recently uh gifted a lot of materials from from people that are retiring now in the Louisiana system. And we came across um this piece of paper that uh Daryl Felder, um, who was at ULL, uh, had. He was a part of the brain trust that was sort of developing the idea. And we actually found the piece of paper where they came up with the LUMCON acronym on it. Um but one of the things that happened in in the late 70s was the idea that we really needed to have as a state a marine science institute that everybody could take advantage of. And so in 1979, legislation was passed to create LUMCON. Um, and if you've ever been down to Cogatry at the at the at the marina that we have down there, um, up until a couple years ago, a couple hurricanes ago, you could still see that some of the original trailers that people worked in because it it took six years before the building was actually completed. But the idea behind that was to be the state's center of coastal marine science, research and education that would serve everybody. And so we have a lot of universities and schools in this state, and the idea was this is everybody's uh marine lab, is sort of what that original mission was. Um, and you know, we try to think about how we can best serve that. And so LumpCon's very unique. I've never found another system anywhere in the world that's designed the way we are. There's a couple that have some components of it, but not all of it. Um, and as of 2016, we are now a program of the border regions. So I directly report to the Commissioner of Higher Education, Kim Hunter Reed. So we're a program of the board regions, but we're also, as you mentioned, a consortium of all the universities in the state. So that includes all 20 of the four-year public institutions of higher ed, the entire LSU system, the UL system, the Southern University system, all 12 of the technical community colleges, which obviously you guys are a major part of that. Um, and then what makes us especially unique is that it includes the 10 members of the uh Louisiana Association of Independent College Universities. So Tulane, Dillard, Xavier, Loyola, all the others, we're all part of that consortium. So we actually have 42 consortium partner member institutions, and a part of our job is to facilitate the collaboration in that research and education in coastal marine science space. But we're also a physical uh presence and resource. So we have our main uh marine lab down in Cocotry. Um, like I said, that land has been part of the Lumcon uh resources since the late 70s, uh, but the building has been there since 1985. And then recently in 2023, we had an expansion onto space that we share with you on the Homa Maritime campus where we opened our Blue Works facility in December of 2023. We are about to receive the bids for the Marine Operations Center that's gonna go in right behind that. We just recently completed uh a large boat slip and a bulkhead project on that property. Um so we're excited, I'm sure we're gonna come back to talking about some of those collaborations with you. So we're this physical presence, and we kinda kind of look at it as we have these multiple arms of what Lumcon does. So we have research and science programs. We currently have uh nine uh research faculty uh on staff. We're trying to hire a tenth. Um be the first time moving to double digits in our history. Um we have our education outreach programs, which we like to refer to as running from pre-K to gray, um, which makes us a little bit different in the higher ed and allows us to sort of bridge the gaps and make partnerships with you guys a little bit easier as well as the other universities and then go beyond. Um and then we have our resources that we have, the marine lab, all the resources we have, the laboratories that are down there, and then now the new space in in Homa. Uh we also are the state's research vessel and dive operations home. So the large ships are ours that we are um tasked with operating, and we have a number of small boats as well. Uh then we're also the state host agency for the Barateria Terrabone National Esther Program, um, which is a partnership with EPA, and the soon to be designated um Chaffalaya National Esther and Research Reserve, which is a partnership with NOAA. Uh so that's sort of part of what we do, and then the the last thing that I would say is that we're really part of our mission is also to bring people together and be a community hub. So trying to bring, sometimes it's other university partners, it's partners outside of the universities, sometimes it's local communities, trying to come together and figure out what some important challenges are and how we might be able to address them. So it's a long-winded answer. You ask a short question, but give me space and I'll fill it.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Well, I was gonna say, and it what it tells me is that you're doing a lot. You're doing a whole lot. One quick question, this uh hopefully this will be an easy question for you, but what year was LumCon started? Do you know?

SPEAKER_01 11:20

So 1979 is when the legislation was enacted to to form LumCon. Don Bosch was hired as our first director shortly after that, and then he started filling faculty slots. Uh, I believe that uh Mike Dagg was hired in 1982, was the first time we had a second person on the staff at that point.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

So you guys are coming up on a pretty big anniversary then fairly soon.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yes, we are.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Yeah, great. We'll have to be on the lookout for that. So one of the things is you were as you were mentioning, everybody, um, all the institutions that you partner with and that you work with, I would imagine there's a a lot of variance in terms of engagement in um not necessarily in the marine, maritime, you know, um sector, but in terms of the levels at which you do that. Like I would think that a Tulane is probably doing some high-level research, whereas a Fletcher Technical Community College, we're not a research-based institution. So we're doing something a little bit differently. How do you approach um the varying needs of the institution and the varying levels of engagement? Like, how do you balance all of that?

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Well, I mean, part of it is to have the conversation, to try to figure out where is the common space. I mean, so one of the things that I started doing when I stepped into this role three years ago is that we hadn't been having um consortium-wide meetings. And so I started having uh what I call state of the consortium meetings uh annually, in-person meetings, trying to bring as many of the institutions together as possible to figure out where there are common needs, things that we can work on together. Um and then it's take making the effort to talk to the individual universities and figuring out what where those partnerships might exist. And sometimes it's figuring out hey, um, we don't do this, but this other institution is trying to do something similar. Perhaps that may be somebody that you want to do. Um, I think we play a role in trying to help some of these things out. Um, an example of that is, you know, a few years ago when uh the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program uh was going to was approaching and talking to LSU and Tulane about uh creating this new Miss Delta five-year research project focusing on the Mississippi Delta now down near the Birdfoot Delta part of the uh area. And they're trying to build the the partnerships that are part of that. And so I had a lot of conversations with the leads to try to help figure out hey, here's a good contact person at this institution that might be able to bring something to that. And part of that is because I'm just familiar with the other institutions a little bit more because of the role that we have. And then I try to make trips out. I mean, it's easy for me to come talk to you, come talk to J to Jake, Jake Loon and Nichols, and you know, we can talk a little bit more about what we're trying to do collectively for this region, right? But you know, it's uh making trips to Northwestern or up to Monroe and Shreveport and figuring out where those opportunities might present themselves.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Yeah, so you are very much a connector.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

That's I think that's one of the things that I I view my role to be.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Okay, great. So um you mentioned the research arm, and uh I know that you all do a lot of really amazing research. Um why is conducting the research like you guys do, I think um primarily in the Gulf, am I correct on that? Or is it everywhere?

SPEAKER_01 14:42

There's there's a little bit of everywhere. Okay, but you know, obviously there's going to always be a little bit more of a focus on what's local. It's easier to do that. But we have a lot of people that do work pretty much all over the world, uh, depending upon you know what projects and collaborations that they may have. You know, we have mangroves here that are coming into Louisiana, you know, over the last few decades. But mangroves are very well established in other places in the world, very well studied. So people that work on mangroves may also do work in other regions to try to figure out what we can learn about here, but most of the focus is here. I would probably say, you know, 80 to 85 percent of the research that's done out of LUMCON is Louisiana or northern Gulf focused. Got it. Uh, but there's a component that many of us have that takes us to other places.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Okay. So I guess my question is is why is it important that we're doing research like this?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Well, I think we all value the unique resources that Louisiana provides. I mean, we all we make our livelihood and our recreation focused on what happens, particularly from our perspective, being located on the coast, we focus a lot on the coast. But we're also realizing that Louisiana has faced a lot of challenges, you know, we've lost a lot of our wetlands. Uh, we have lots of issues that are taking place in terms of not just land loss, but the um other sorts of damages that happen. We also drain 41% of the US. So that means we have a lot of pollutants that come down through here. And if we want to try to protect and restore these important resources, then we need to have a good scientific understanding of what is driving those changes that we're seeing and what we may be able to do to um reduce some of those impacts, mitigate and manage against them. And so it the scientific basis for these decisions are really important. And the state is committed to, you know, dedicating $50 billion to coastal restoration over the next 50 years. You want that based on solid science, so we're not essentially throwing that money away, right? Right. So I think it's really important that we're in tune and not just doing science for the sake of understanding, you know, uh stretching human understanding is really important, but if you can do that research in a way that has a really applied benefit, um, I think it's more important and it's more prudent considering the struggle to find the resources you need to do that science.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Yeah, yeah, it is, it's really important. And I think, you know, we talk a lot about what needs to happen in especially South Louisiana in order for our way of life, our culture, our communities to exist decades from now. And so that work is really important. Um, and we do need to have an understanding from a scientific basis of what's happening and then what can we do to fix it at the end of the day. Um what's the coolest uh research you have going on right now? Because you guys do some pretty cool stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

One of the things that I think we've always tried to do when we hire new faculty at at Lumcon is most people in their minds have this idea that a marine lab is going to be a hundred percent biologically oriented. Most people think about when I think of a marine lab, they think about, you know, dolphins and whales and you know sea life and things of that nature. But we've tried to make sure that one, we have a pretty broad, holistic view in terms of what types of scientific disciplines that we uh hire people for. And we also try to make sure it's compatible, filling in important voids that we have in our understanding throughout the university's systems. So, I mean, we have a lot of people that are doing research that I think is particularly pertinent to uh the coastal restoration efforts that we have going on now. We're probably a little bit more focused in the coastal zone than we are offshore if you compare it to where we were 20, 30 years ago. And I think that's part of the need. Uh, you know, I think some of the things that are are really uh interesting is some of the new techniques that people are using. You know, we've got people that are using uh acoustics, you know, fish and other organisms make sounds. And so one of the things that's difficult when you're trying to assess populations is that it's hard to drag nets over the over areas and collect everything that's very disruptive to that. But we're finding new ways to do that with the sounds that the animals make. Um, we have people using things like sonar to be able to detect populations and figure out where they are. Um, and so I think trying to bring some of that technology approaches that more than the classic old school, somewhat more destructive sampling techniques, I think are some of the more innovative ways that we're trying to approach some of these questions. I think some of the new sensor techniques and things that we use when we go offshore in the large ships are also some uh real advances that are pretty exciting uh for the future.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Yeah. So, in other words, you're telling me that the fish talk?

SPEAKER_01 19:55

It's like Nemo? Are they having a whole conversation? They are. I mean, they're they're making cues that just the way animals that we see in the terrestrial environment are making, um, letting people others know where they are. Um and so yeah, we're learning a lot more about exactly what those cues mean. The other thing that when you think about those sounds is that you realize how diverse that soundscape is. Because some of those sounds that you hear are things like the propellers from boats. You know, so there's a lot of things that are disrupting that. And you know, how does that, those other human-derived sounds, impact the behavior of the organisms that are trying to inhabit these crucial ecosystems?

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Interesting. That's fascinating. That really is. So is there um have you ever had a discovery that you just like totally geeked out that you were like, I cannot believe that we discovered this?

SPEAKER_01 20:50

In my career, most of the things we've had surprises, but a lot of times they're they're incremental progress to to to where you are. Um, you know, I guess some of things would be how long it may take for some things to recover, um and how persistent some impacts can be. Um, you know, I I think back at the oil spill. Um while I think one thing that was really impressive was how to people and surprising was how quickly the fisheries as a as a whole recovered. A lot of it was that, you know, species that were mobile could avoid where oil was and then they can move back into habitats that were there. But some of the persistent uh impacts that we've seen on the marshes and wetlands, um, obviously you have really heavy oil, the the marsh gets lost because it the the plants die, there's nothing to hold the soil together, you have this huge erosion event. But the stuff that's still there, you know, we're seeing some impacts, you know, for the plants and for recovery. Some of those things are still not fully recovered. Um, And so I I think there's surprises. Um I I think in in my career I haven't had ones that are um you know rushed to to tell somebody it's like, hey, this is this is what we found. I mean, I tell to my other science geeks uh it's like that get really jazzed about this particular finding. Um but I mean, and you know, some of the processes, you know, that get shut down almost completely after disturbance, I think is that. Um, you know, we've done a lot of work that's looked at uh we do for restoration, you know, we need to rebuild Bear Islands, we need a sand source. So we'll go to sand shoals offshore. But we want to understand how are those habitats that are important uh refuges from things like epoxia, how are those impacted? So how long the recovery is after you dredge an area is one of the things that's been a little bit surprising to me, is like how long it takes for some of those things to recover.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

Interesting. I want to go ahead too and tackle a little bit of um, I don't know if it's a rumor, right? But I know it's something that you I I've heard you address a few times, right? And that is you built Blue Works, and so now you're moving out of coquetry. So let's go ahead for the audience out there, let's clear this up. Maybe we can do it once and for all, right? Yeah. Are you leaving coquetry?

SPEAKER_01 23:20

No, we're not we're not leaving coquetry, not anytime soon.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

So tell me about what happens at Blue Works, what happen what's happening in cocoa tree? How are they similar and complimentary? How are they different?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

The whole expansion is the way that I like to look at it to the Home Ameritime campus, you know, really came out of opportunity. You know, came out some discussions that we obviously had with you guys up here at Fletcher about trying to um have the opportunity to utilize some of the space that was originally given the community college system and try to increase partnerships that we have, uh, connect more to the really important maritime industrial complex and the industry that is there, finding ways that we can um, you know, find new collaborations, new ways to be able to provide information that may solve some of those problems. Um, so that's part of how that expansion happened. The other is the other reason why it's really important to us is that Cocodry is a is a great place, um, but it's a little hard to get to. And so while we see um, you know, four to five thousand K-12 students a year make it all the way down to Cocodry, um we can't reach everybody. But when we're up in Homa on Dixon Road, you know, we're a mile from a middle school and less than a mile from a high school. We can do things there that we can't do uh down in Cocodry. We're able to offer, um, which we just started last spring, we offer a uh science semester for homeschool uh for seventh through twelfth grade. And then this fall we added a um a mini-mester, as we're calling it, is for fourth through sixth grade homeschool because we have a large part of our population is actually homeschooled. And the hardest part, as you might imagine, of homeschooling is the science, is because you don't have the resources to do the labs, do those sorts of things at home. So we can do those sorts of programs. You know, we're starting to develop some after-school programs, ways that you know people can connect to us without having to get all the way down to coquetry. Now, coquetry is really important because of the place-based experiential learning. You know, we're surrounded by the wetlands there. Um, and from a scientific standpoint, it's incredibly important. It's located outside the levee system. It is a true living laboratory. That's part of what we try to embrace. Um, I know it's a little bit difficult. You know, I throughout this entire uh hurricane season, uh, my staff probably doesn't like waking up every single morning to a message from me with an update about what's going on in the tropics, as well as uh, you know, what the conditions are at the Marine Center, because we have a lot of water on our property and trying to make sure that people are safe and when we can access it, things of that nature. But it is a true opportunity because you know, the vast majority of the population of the world lives within 50 to 75 miles of the coast. The seas are rising around the world, they're rising here on a relative level faster than anywhere else. So everybody's gonna be grappling with this. We all are attached to our coastal environments. We want to continue to work and play on the coast. So if we can figure out ways that we can adapt to that, it's an incredibly important resource, be able to do those sorts of activities right outside your door. When you're looking out my office window and I can see the marsh there and I see some of our study sites, that's something that you can't have if you're someplace else. So that's part of the reason why we're gonna need to be there. Um, the other big part of the Homa expansion is because of the research vessels. The National Science Foundation is building three research regional class research vessels that are 199 feet long. They're being built at Bollinger, right up in Homa. And the first one of those is gonna be operating on the Pacific Coast, operated by Oregon State. The second one is gonna be University of Rhode Island for the Atlantic Coast. And the third one, we're gonna operate in partnership with University of Southern Mississippi for the Gulf Coast. And that ship, though, at 199 feet, it's got a bigger draft. It doesn't get into our boat basin down, down, down in Homa. Um, so you know, we it's gonna have a dual home port of Gulfport and Homa. That boat slip that we just completed is designed for that ship. It also provides us with a safe harbor for all of our vessels. Um, and it just there's a logistical aspect of that as well in the fact that when we have to have maintenance done on the boats, people coming all the way down to Cocodry costs a lot more than bringing all those ships and just having them work on up in Homa. That's where all of that expertise is located. So um there's a lot that came together for that expansion. Um, we're obviously excited about the increased partnerships that we have in that maritime space. Um, that is much easier to do with us being on that campus, but we're we're not leaving Cocodry. So that I was put that to rest. That that that is not we're not leaving Cocodry uh anytime soon. Trying to figure out how we can prolong the duration of time in which we can stay there and work and operate. There are some challenges with that, of course, but that that's that's our home. That's our home. That's home base.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Yeah, very much. Kind of goes back to that first question. What's one place that's home without being home?

SPEAKER_03 28:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:41

Now you mentioned K-12. You also have college students who come study with you. What do those programs look like?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

So those have evolved a little bit over time. When we started in the 80s and the 90s, uh, it was much more common for most of our education programs for university students were based in the summer. People come in residence, take a class for three or four weeks, all day, every day. You know, but the reality of the workforce, um, people need to make money in the summer, right? So taking a class that has, you know, you're gonna be paying tuition and you're not making money at the same time is really a challenge. So we shifted a lot more of our university coursework to being focused during the semester. Um, so we've taught a course called Changing Coastal Oceans, which is an upper level undergrad uh slash grad course that is offered across the consortium. Um last several years, we've averaged 40 to 50 students taking it from five to six universities at any given time. We've been teaching that class for 25 years, largely uh virtually. We try to bring them down for field trips. Um, and then we teach in a uh lower-level undergrad class for uh early majors or non-majors that's called Oceans and Society, uh, which is taught in a similar type of a platform. Um and so those are our two sort of core university courses that we teach. Um, we're in the process of working to develop a semester in residence program, which we hope will become a Nexus degree. Oh, that can be, and one of the reasons why I think the Board of Regents is excited about this, it could be become essentially the first sort of franchise Nexus degree where we can make partnerships with, we can't set up the basic curriculum and different universities sign on that this is something that they will issue the degree that'll be focused, and they will spend a semester down in Cogitry uh with us and with some of that taking place in HOMA as well. But we shifted our summer to being a lot more about internships and just research experiences. So uh one of the first things that uh I remember when I was interviewing for the job, I sat across from Nancy Rabelay uh when she was the director and and when I was hired and said that Lumcon needs to have a research experience for undergraduates program. And I said, I want to be the person that brings it here. And I was fortunate to be able to do that. We've been running that uh program since 2011. So we bring in uh eight to ten students from around the country uh to Lumcon for a 10-week internship where they do the whole arc of the scientific process. Um and we also have a STEM prep program which is geared towards um community college and early stage undergraduates who don't have much research experience. Instead of doing an independent research project, they have a series of skill building workshops and then they work as sort of uh interns as technicians in research labs. So they're assisting all the projects, kind of getting some of that experience and understanding and appreciation for how they might do things of that nature. Um, we do uh a grad student fellowship where we basically fund somebody to do part of their research for a summer as part of their thesis or dissertation down um at the Marine Center. And then we, of course, work with the different consortium members and outside to try to encourage students to do their work through LUMCON and their programs. And we recently have been working with the uh Brown Foundation. We just launched a program that's for early career faculty members for the consortium to uh uh submit proposal ideas to do work that is engaged with the LumCon mission using some of our facilities and resources and/or our personnel to sort of collaborate with um to kind of jumpstart some of their research programs. Um and uh we're hopeful that this is a type of program that can continue and it that does several things. One, it aids the early career faculty members that are part of our consortium. It also increases the collaborations and partnerships that we might have with institutions.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

That is really interesting because that's one of the things that um has always impressed me is is the opportunities for students to come to Cocodry to actually do research, to really get embedded in it. Um I've talked to a few people in the community where they've had those experiences in the past, and that was really meaningful to them in a lot of different ways. One of the little facts that I learned early about Lumcon, you guys have a pretty extensive and I think unique library. Um why is it so unique? What is it, what's why is this so special?

SPEAKER_01 33:24

One of the main reasons that it is special is that it is really the only library that's main focus is on coastal and marine science information. Um, you know, we've got a fantastic librarian in John Conover who uh is very well connected. We kind of get information, we get a lot of uh faculty from that are retiring. I mentioned that earlier, from around the state who donate some of their collections and things like that. We've also really tried to focus a lot on unique volumes that sometimes are one of a kind. There'd be a report from an agency somewhere. We've got they're not just focused only on Louisiana, because there are things in other states that are that are relevant, other agencies. So we have a lot of really unique volumes. Um and I think that's one of the reasons that it makes it special. There have been a number of people that have written really important textbooks that have come to Lumcon because they can get away, they can use our, you know, our dorms and apartments, and then they can use the take advantage of the library that we have and that setting and sort of work on those sorts of things. One of the things that we're taking advantage of with the the new campus uh in Homa is that a lot of those unique volumes, cocodry may not be the safest place to store a one-of-a-cut volume. Yeah, exactly. So we're trying to move a lot of those things up the road into Homa where they're a little bit more protected and people need them down in Cocodry. We can easily bring them down. Um, but that is something that's there. And you know, we hope as um you know, you guys continue to expand on that campus, and as the Louisiana Maritime Academy continues to grow and wants to utilize that campus, that this can serve as a library uh for that campus, and we can try to bring in some of the volumes that are most relevant to that maritime space as well, you know, to complement what already exists at each of our ins individual institutions. But that is that's part of what uh that's about.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

Yeah. And you just mentioned a little bit, um, the other thing that surprised me about LumCon that I wasn't aware is that you have researchers who come in from all over the world.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

Um, either because of the library collections or to do research in the Gulf and going out on the vessels and and working with the researchers we have in the state. Um, where do folks come from?

SPEAKER_01 35:45

Well, I I think I think you summarized it. I mean, they literally do come, they literally do come from all over the world. Um, and that's not that's not really a a stretch.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

Um And I don't mean from like Arkansas. No, well, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:59

Yeah, right. Uh we we do get outside of the that of the Gulf South. Um I would say that we probably have had researchers from every state in the country have probably utilized LUMCON uh at some point during our history. We get a lot of folks, uh, you know, there's a lot of European scientists that come and and work. Um that's probably the most uh numerous. Um when it comes to the wetlands and uh the salt marshes and the mangroves, you get a lot of uh Chinese and and Asian uh research because they're really big on on research on those topics over there. Um so uh yeah, we get people from all over, and you don't you never really know exactly what it you know what it's going to entail, who's gonna happen in a given year. Um all I can say is that you know our vessels are are are in high demand. It it we have the RV Pelican is the only uh vessel in the Gulf of Mexico that is part of the National Research Fleet. Um so when federal funding is there, it's always a priority ship for that, and it's been maintained as the highest, most heavily used vessel of its size class in the National Research Fleet pretty much its entire existence. It's averages, you know, these days in the order of a 180 to 100 days at sea, uh which is quite significant because you figure all the time you've got to do prep and everything else uh for the ship and then the annual maintenance and things like you have to do for it. So, yeah, we get researchers from all over, it makes it really interesting. I mean, one of the things that we're really trying to push on now is to uh we've been building up what we call um uh marine synthesis center. So taking advantage of the fact we have the library, we have all these meeting spaces, we have the residence halls, you know, where we can basically have uh, you know, 80 to 90 people a day stay at the marine center, um, where we have groups come in and they want to solve a problem, the best way to do that is to isolate yourself and be together as a group and work on some of these uh projects. So that's something that we're really trying to provide that's a little bit unique, um, not just for the state, but really around the country to have places that are dedicated to doing those sorts of things.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

Yeah, and I'll just say, you know, on behalf of Fletcher, I know we are always appreciative. You always open up the space to us. And and look, we're not we're not doing scientific research on marine, but we are trying to solve um some of our community and our state and our nation's biggest challenges in terms of workforce and and other things. And so providing that space where we can even step away from the office, right? Get a group together and really focus in on a problem or a challenge and try to figure out the solutions. And I think that that's what really um, no matter what the sector is, that's what research and and good quality, um just planning and initiative is all about. Uh, and so I want to say thank you for that for always being such a wonderful host.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Well, well, thank you for being such a great partner. I mean, I think one of the things that's really important, one of the reasons why we're so excited with expanding what it is we do and collaborating with you guys at Fletcher is that you know we're really all about making sure that we have people trained to do the work that needs to be done, particularly in this region. And one of the challenges, if you talk to industry partners around here, one of the biggest challenges, they have plenty of work, but they have to recruit people from outside. And I view the, you know, that this is all a pipeline that we're all connected to. And I think one of the things that we can do is we can provide some of that early inspiration for people to pursue careers in STEM. You guys can provide that training that gets them those jobs right away. And some of them may come back later on, they want to do the research a little bit more, and we may be able to come back in again in the back end. But you know, you got this pipeline. One of the things I just love about the way we're trying to build up this maritime campus is that, you know, we've got this research institution, we have you guys at the community college level, and then we can partner with Nichols on things, and there aren't really places around the world where you have all three of those in partnership with industry the way we do, provides tremendous opportunities, I think, for this region to grow.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

Absolutely, absolutely. And that's such a great point because I think from what you all do in the um K through 12 space, right, generating that interest, that curiosity about these careers, about what's possible in partnership with places like Bayou STEM, right, which is a great partner. And then moving them through the educational, the K through 12 system into whether it's a certificate or a Coast Guard certification, um, so they can go work in the industry up through an associate. So then over to Nichols to get the baccalaureate or the masters, and then that continued ability to partner with you, even on the other end of that spectrum in that research component um at that higher level, it really is a full circle. Right. So, well, look, I um wanna wrap things up with you today. It's been just a joy to learn more about Lumcon and to hear all of the really amazing things that are happening down there. I think many of you, if you're listening or watching, you maybe did not realize all of the things that are happening with the Lumcon group. And we are gonna certainly put their web address. You want to give us a shout out? What's the web?

SPEAKER_01 41:21

It's just www.lumcon.edu.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

Right. Easy enough. L-U-M-C-O-N. And uh we will post all of this information in the show notes, um, especially if you have interest in some of the programs that were mentioned, whether it be the research programs or even the homeschool association. Um, I know you do some community events um as well. So if people want to check those out, go visit. The whole goal is to go see it. Um so we want you out there and engaged. Um, so please be on the lookout. And again, all that'll be in our show notes. So I always like to find a little tidbit uh to bring it home at the end. And um I I got two things on you that maybe not big, huge secrets, but maybe some things people didn't know about you. So I am to understand uh that you like dancing, but you have one particular dance partner that you like to dance with the most. And who is that? Who is your mystery dance partner?

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Well, my my oldest daughter, uh Sophia Pearl, um really uh really loves to dance. Bethany is at that stage where she really is like, uh, I'm gonna be a little distant about all that stuff. Uh but uh Sophia loves to dance, and uh yeah, she she she usually uh gravitates to me to to to dance.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

All right, she's gonna drag you out on the dance floor, huh?

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Yeah, we were just at a wedding two weeks ago and uh I was I was out there with her.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Are you a good dancer?

SPEAKER_01 42:45

I'm gonna leave that to others to decide. I I I I do my best to hold my own on the floor, but uh I wouldn't go as far as say I'm a good dancer. All right.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

So you haven't been on the dancing with the stars to do that?

SPEAKER_01 42:57

No, no, no. I'm not sure I would qualify in the star part or the dancing part, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Well I was gonna say if anybody out there is is watching, uh maybe you need to reach out to Brian here to see about competing in that. We would love to see that. Um and then the other thing is um you have a my understanding is a real passion for the blessing of the fleet. Oh, yeah. And where does where does that come from? And why is that so meaningful to you?

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Well, I mean, I think part of it is is that is to make people aware, you know, that the fleet, you know, obviously the blessing of the fleet is all about the beginning of you know the season and getting everybody going out there, trying to, you know, catch, get their catch. My my version of the fleet is is this research vessel fleet, right? And so trying to make people aware of you know how important it is that we you know support and and take care of that. So whenever possible, we we you know, when it's not conflicting with other things we have, we usually try to bring at least the RV Acadiana up up to the blessing in the fleet and have that there for people to be able to see that. Um I think it's really uh it's great for people to recognize what these ships are and what they can do. Um so yeah, it's something that we uh we make regular occurrences at whenever we can. Um I usually try to make it myself with my family, uh, but uh you know sometimes that doesn't happen, but we try to make sure at least Lumpcon has a presence.

SPEAKER_02 44:12

Yeah, and and it is a beautiful and rich cultural tradition.

SPEAKER_01 44:16

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

Um, and so love that you all are participating in that. So well, thank you for being here with us today on the podcast. Hopefully it was pretty good, even though the first five were a little painful, I think. But but you made it through beautifully.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

I did I did my best. I I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you as always, uh, and thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

Absolutely. And look, everyone out there, thank you for joining in to this episode of Bridging the Bayou, the podcast of Fletcher Technical Community College. We'll be back real soon with another new episode. But for now, we hope you stay well and that you be sure to like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening to Bridging the Bayou, the podcast of Fletcher Technical Community College. Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.