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Wax Lake Delta NERR Research Facility Design Studio

completed
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Project Goals:

In the NERR Research Facility Studio, the students addressed the challenges of building within a deltaic condition. The emerging ecosystem, lying between blurred lines of land and water, provides a setting that requires non-traditional approaches to design and occupying the delta.

Project Team:
  • INSTRUCTOR
    • Shelby Doyle
    • Kiel Moe
  • STUDENTS
    • Kathleen Autilio
    • Kayla Bosarge
    • Travis Dickerson
    • Ethan Jordan
    • Sara Loquist
    • Alexis Malone
    • Jennifer Price
    • Reagan Rispone
    • Cameron Spencer
  • PROJECT ADVISORS
    • Robert Twilley, PhD Chairman of the Board & Interim CSS Executive Director
      Executive Director, Louisiana Sea Grant
      Professor, LSU College of the Coast & Environment
    • Pam Blanchard
  • GRADUATE ASSISTANT
    • Kelli Cunningham

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a network of 28 coastal sites designated to protect and study estuarine systems. Established through the Coastal Zone Management Act, the reserves represent a partnership program between NOAA and the coastal states. NOAA provides funding and national guidance, and each site is managed on a daily basis by a lead state agency or university with input from local partners.

The research reserves are focused on the following:
• Stewardship – Each site undertakes the initiatives needed to keep the estuary healthy.
• Research – Reserve-based research and monitoring data are used to aid conservation and management efforts on local and national levels.
• Training – Local and state officials are better equipped to introduce local data into the decision making process as a result of reserve training efforts.
• Education – Thousands of children and adults are served through hands-on laboratory and field-based experiences. School curriculums are provided online.

Direct + Broader Impacts:
The studio proposed designs for the flagship Louisiana National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) facility in the Wax Lake Delta. The 50,000 square foot facility designs included office space, laboratories, classrooms, educational spaces, exhibition space, and dormitory.

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