Students to master biology program By: Shannon Hauler

Focusing on the needs of coastal Louisiana, the biology department will offer a master’s degree in marine and environmental biology beginning in Fall 2002.

At its February meeting, the Board of Regents is expected to give final approval for this program, which has been in the works for almost five years, Dr. Marilyn Kilgen, department head of biological sciences, said.

“The focus of research in this area is marine and environmental biology, because we are in the heart of a very significant wetlands here in the Barataria-Terrebonne wetlands,” Kilgen said.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, located in Meade Hall, “has a tremendous need and a lot of turnover for biologists with master’s degrees who have practical, hands-on experience in those environmental issues that affect Louisiana,” she said.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources prefers employees to enter their program with a mater’s degree Darin Lee, natural resource geoscience supervisor of the department, said. He said students who are native to this area would also benefit the program.

“This is a very significant area with some unique problems in our environment, especially in the aquatic environment. That is what we wanted to concentrate on,” Kilgen said.

Students pursuing this degree will be required to complete 18 credit hours of core courses, followed by 17 hours of elective courses, Kilgen said. Of the elective courses to be offered, some will be available at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium research laboratory in Cocodrie, where students will be immersed in the marine environment with hands-on experience, she said.

“The majority of the faculty who are going to be teaching in the program are (at Nicholls),” Kilgen said. Five new faculty members, including one Ph.D. professor, three masters instructors and one lab technician, will join the faculty.

“Depending on how the program grows and if it really takes off, the administration is committed to providing whatever we need to keep it going,” Kilgen said.

Kilgen said 45 to 50 students would be accepted into the graduate program. Students pursuing this degree would have two years to complete their research projects.

The classes would not be limited to students pursuing a master’s degree.

“We are going to be offering some classes that are going to be very, very interesting to people who are already perhaps agency or industry employees and who want to get additional training,” Kilgen said.

Much of the funding necessary for the program will be used for research equipment and laboratory tools. By writing research grants for the past four and a half years, the department has collected some of the necessary equipment.

Dr. Ramaraj Boopathy, assistant professor of biological sciences, said many schools do not offer a degree that combines marine and environmental biology.

“Combining these two together will give students more opportunities to get a job,” he said.