An interdisciplinary team of University researchers is spearheading an effort to coordinate coastal research efforts using a massive grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Northern Gulf Coastal Hazards Collaboratory — a portmanteau of “collaborative” and “laboratory” — will use $1.3 million from the NSF to create a cyber-infrastructure that will connect 10 universities in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi doing research on coastal hazards.
“It’s a virtual organization,” said Q. Jim Chen, a civil and environmental engineering professor who is part of the group. “It’s what we call ‘distributed research.'”
Chen said the technology would allow researchers to work together more closely on research to model and mitigate coastal dangers like storm surge, flooding, oil spills and coastal erosion.
Individual researchers, for example, have their own equipment that monitors the coast, but that equipment is currently not networked together. The grant will allow the universities to create a cooperative system for storing and communicating the data, allowing for a more comprehensive picture of the coast.
The money will allow the researchers to create high-bandwidth optical networks, high-performance computing equipment, and large-scale data storage. It will also create software and imaging equipment that will allow researchers to simultaneously view coastal processes.
It will also pay for video conferencing and communications software to allow researchers in different locations to work together.
“In the old-fashioned way, you got a small group that gets funding and works by itself,” Chen said. “Now we can share models and resources.”
Chen said the University is spearheading the effort because of the Center for Computation and Technology, which is working to set up the infrastructure.  The money will be used to purchase hardware and software and to pay programmers to create new communications tools.
Four University researchers are participating in the project, including one from the Department of Geography and Anthropology.
“It isn’t just coastal engineering that’s involved in this.  There are people from multiple departments,” Chen said.
In addition to research goals, the grant includes an educational and outreach component. The program will involve undergraduate and graduate students that will participate in the research and networking process.
Computer science and computer engineering students will work on creating and maintaining the systems, while coastal engineering and other students will assist with research.
“There will be opportunities for students to get involved,” Chen said.
Chen said the University’s leading role is something students can be proud of.
“I think students should know we’re doing top-notch research here at LSU,” Chen said.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]