Congratulations to the CC&E Graduating Class of Summer 2023
August 10, 2023
BATON ROUGE - The College of the Coast & Environment, or CC&E, congratulates its most recent alumni.
During the Summer 2023 Commencement Ceremony, degrees will be conferred to 21 students in CC&E. Each student graduates with the knowledge and skills critical for a more sustainable and healthier coastal environment.
The Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences is graduating 11 students, five with PhDs and six with Masters degrees. The Department of Environmental Sciences is awarding five master’s degrees, one Certificate in Environmental Health Sciences and one doctoral degree. Five students will also be receiving their Bachelor’s of Science in Coastal Environmental Sciences.
This accomplished group includes a Women in Ocean Sciences Intern, a Presidential Management Fellow Recipient, a representative in the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and a Fulbright Scholar. The work of these students reflects a diverse array of interests, from studying the effects of wildfire on global mercury emissions to the atmospheric impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill, to coral reproduction in the Pacific Ocean.
“We could not be more proud of our graduates,” said Interim Dean Clint Willson. “Their hard work is so impressive, and we know they are only just getting started! I can’t wait to see what the future holds. I know they will have a big impact, both in Louisiana and beyond.”
Undergraduates
| Name | Degree |
| Kalli Cruz | Bachelor's of Science, Coastal Environmental Sciences |
| Brookelynn Taylor Duke | Bachelor's of Science, Coastal Environmental Sciences |
| Sion Caziah Farley-Thompson | Bachelor's of Science, Coastal Environmental Sciences |
| Siarah S. Hall | Bachelor's of Science, Coastal Environmental Sciences |
| Brodie Horn |
Bachelor's of Science, Coastal Environmental Sciences |
Graduate Students
| Name | Degree | Dissertation / Thesis / Paper |
| James Bradley | Masters of Environmental Sciences | Interactive effects of partial pressure of CO2, temperature, and nutrient-limitation on the physiology and growth of the coccolithoshore E. huxleyi grown on a 12:12 L:D cycle of illumination |
| Jade Melissa Carver | Masters of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Reef Fish Movement Dynamics and Recruitment to Artificial Habitat |
| Robert Feder | Masters of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Effects of Coastal Freshening on Porewater Salinity and Nitrogen Cycling in Brackish Marsh Soils: Implications for Biogeochemical Resilience in Barataria Basin, LA |
| Shannon T. Isenhower | Masters of Environmental Sciences | The Effects of Wildfire on Global Mercury Emissions: A Systematic Review |
| Charles Phillip Johnson | Masters of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Atmospheric Impacts from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill |
| Joseph Steven Kasulaltis | Masters of Environmental Sciences / Certificate in Environmental Health Sciences | What are the Major Ecological Impacts of Acid Mine Discharge to Pennsylvania? |
| Katherine Loesser | Masters of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Tracing Energy Pathways through Coastal Wetland Food Webs |
| Haley Millen | Masters of Environmental Sciences | Assessment of the endocrine disrupting chemical release into the water column, and its associated risk to human health |
| Larissa Acela Murphy | Masters of Environmental Sciences | A Review of Beaver Dams for Climate Resiliency in the American West |
| Mercedes Pinzon | Masters of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Impact of Sediment Diversion for Coastal Restoration on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Biogeochemical Cycling in Coastal Louisiana, USA |
| Danielle Marie Soileau | Masters of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Silica Concentrations in Dominant Vegetation Species of Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana |
| Susan Beth Colley | PhD in Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Coral Reproduction in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific: Reproductive Trends and Seasonal Parameters |
| Sophie Jurgensen | PhD in Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Ecology of Viruses in Marine and Coastal Oxygen-depleted Waters |
| Benjamin Limer | PhD in Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Biophysical mechanisms of larval retention in reef-building corals |
| Scott St. Romain | PhD in Environmental Sciences | Impacts of Salinity on the Environmental Fate of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants in Water |
| Vanessa Nicole van Heerden | PhD in Oceanography & Coastal Sciences | Communicating Nature-Society Relationships in Coastal Louisiana: An Evaluation of the Ecosystem Services Framework |