LSU will receive $450,000 from the National Academy of Sciences over the next five years to institute a Gulf Renaissance Scholars Program, according to Environmental Sciences Professor Linda Hooper Bui, who will lead the program.

According to Bui, the program will educate students in the Gulf region, all coast areas that touch the Gulf of Mexico, and aims to bring in students from various disciplines.

Bui has been running programs focused on increasing sciences in public schools for many years, such as the “environmentors” program, which sends LSU mentors to low-income high schools.

No matter their major, students across campus can participate in the program, according to Bui. 

Bui said one thing the program will offer is a seminar course called “The Gulf South,” where they will read and discuss a book called “The Gulf South.” This is an anthology of writing from Margery Stoneman Douglas and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists to scientists talking about the Gulf. She said they want the students to focus on the communities of the Gulf of Mexico and research a creative endeavor termed “Gulf Impact Project.”

“I am obsessed with the idea of a student spending time on the coast and interpreting the sounds that they hear,” she said. “I’d love some new music and some new plays to come out of this.”

Bui said other goals include having history students combine their projects with the ideas of philosophy or science students. She said this would be “very natural” for science students, but the focus is to bring in students from across campus so they can interact with each other.

Bui said the program was initially meant to last five years but she agreed with LSU after an anonymous corporate donor sponsored enough funds to make it a forever program.

Bui said the goal for the first year is a minimum of 25 students to participate and hopefully 100 students through the program each year after that. She said the program would provide mentors in  different disciplines, such as the student’s major, engineering and science.

 If a student doesn’t have a full scholarship, Bui said they can help fill those gaps by giving them a salary or grant for things such as driving to the coast or buying art supplies. She also said the other funds for the program would go toward helping faculty members convert their courses to be Gulf-focused.

Students in the program would also complete a Gulf Impact Project, Bui said. The project will likely be done over the summer and can be about anything related to the Gulf involving science, environmentalism, art, music and more.

Bui said LSU Discover, a university undergraduate research program focused on supporting student research, has partnered with the Gulf Scholars Program and is currently working on an application that is set to come out in the next few weeks. It’s mainly aimed at sophomores, but they will accept first-year students too. She said they would provide a workshop to help students with the application so they feel supported throughout the process.

Bui said one of the main questions on the application will be, “Do you have a connection to the coast?” However, even if a student doesn’t, they are still encouraged to join as it will increase that connection.

Bui said the program is also creating a graduation distinction for students who take nine hours of approved gulf-centric courses, participate in the gulf impact project and participate in some of the activities, such as poetry readings, films and lectures. She said students will graduate as “Gulf Renaissance Scholars.”

“The students will learn from each other too, but I’m going to learn from them,” Bui said, “It’s going to be big. It’s going to be fun.”

Professor in the School of Education Jacqueline Bach, is  the vice provost of Academic Programs and Support Services. Bach acted as a co-investigator on the grant and said the program would facilitate undergraduate student learning, research and participation in the Gulf South region through coursework, community service and research opportunities.

Bach said she hopes to see a group of students from different parts of campus “cultivate” a more in-depth understanding of the Gulf South. She said that by being active and engaged, they would be able to learn more about its importance within their region and communities.

“I’m really excited that this is tied to President Taste’s Scholarship First Agenda and that students can see themselves as part of that vision and how valuable their contributions will be to our state,” said Bach.

Timothy Filbert, the program officer for the Gulf Research Program at the National Academy of Sciences, said the program began funding schools in 2021, funding seven that year and six in 2022.

Filbert said the program was envisioned as a way to help solve complex, interdisciplinary issues facing the Gulf region.

“It was based on kind of the recognition that some of the challenges facing the Gulf of Mexico region and beyond are these super complex challenges, what some people call these wicked problems,” Filbert said.

Filbert said the wider program allows a lot of flexibility for schools to run the program however they wish. He said that the Academy does expect students in the program to gain a grounded knowledge of the Gulf, including its history, geography, politics and environment.

Filbert said every program must have a Gulf Impact Project, where a student works on a project related to the Gulf. He said this project can be connected to anything, including science, environmentalism and art, so long as its basis is in the Gulf. 

“LSU’s proposal for this program was really solid and I’m excited to see it take off,” Filbert said.