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Research Facilities
Archaeology
Laboratory
The Archaeology Lab,
located in E214 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex, is shared by two research
programs in archaeology at LSU. These include Maya archaeology, under the
guidance of Dr. Heather McKillop, and historical archaeology, under the
guidance of Dr. Paul Farnsworth. Students and faculty work closely with
the Southeastern Archaeology Program, under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Saunders,
in the Museum of Natural Sciences (16 Gym Armory Building). Graduate and
undergraduate students work on faculty projects as well as their own projects.
The Archaeology Lab, which consists of a complex of several rooms,
offers an impressive array of opportunities for research and analysis.
Artifactual material from Belize (Maya), California, Canada, Louisiana,
and elsewhere is often under study by faculty and students. Facilities
include a "wet-lab" for processing artifacts and laboratory equipment
for study of artifacts (balances, microscopes, computers, microfilm and
microfiche readers, and drafting tables, for example). Field equipment for
faculty and graduate student use is available for surveying and excavation.
Often, simultaneous field projects are carried out in Louisiana and beyond.
Cartographic Information
Center
The Cartographic
Information Center is located in room 313 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex.
With a collection of more than 500,000 cartographic items, the CIC ranks
first among map libraries in U.S. academic departments and tenth among
all American map collections. As a depository for U.S. government maps,
the collection increases at a rate of about 6,000 maps per year.
Holdings
in the map library include: USGS Topographic Series (coverage for the
entire U.S. at various scales); U.S. Army Topographic Command Maps; NOAA
Nautical Charts of the U.S. and foreign waters; Aeronautical Charts (world
coverage); Aerial Photos of Louisiana and parts of Eastern U.S.; historic
maps of Louisiana; miscellaneous maps from foreign governments, commercial
map companies, etc. (world coverage with emphasis on Latin America);
wall maps for teaching; and a collection of atlases, transparencies, gazetteers,
and globes.
The primary
mission of the Cartographic Information Center is to support instruction
and research in the Department of Geography and Anthropology, in particular,
and the University community in general. Researchers on dissertations,
theses, and grants constitute the largest group of users. Recent research
projects include Louisiana coastal erosion, environmental and ecological
studies, hydrological surveys, flood control projects, and archaeological
excavations.
The CIC
also provides maps for field trips, supplies wall maps for use in classes,
maintains a collection of maps on reserve for classes with map-related
assignments, and provides appropriate assistance to students whose map-reading
skills need improvement.
The collection
is open to the general public. Private sector patrons include consulting
engineers, coastal environmental agencies, soil testing engineers, petroleum
companies, architects, attorneys, and many others. Among state and local
governmental patrons are the Attorney General's Office, State Lands,
Department of Environmental Quality, Historic Preservation, East Baton
Rouge District Attorney's Office, and others. CIC patrons also include
backpackers, genealogists, civil war and local historians, fortune-hunters,
puzzle-workers, and tourists. As a depository of government maps, our
commitment is service to the public.
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Computer-Aided
Design and Geographical Information Systems (CADGIS) Research
Laboratory
The CADGIS Lab, a jointly
operated facility of the Department of Geography and Anthropology and
the College of Design, supports instruction and research in computer
mapping, architecture, and engineering. Mapping applications encompass
computer cartography, geographic information systems, and remote sensing.
The lab complex, located
in 215 College of Design, has a varied complement of hardware and software.
In the four separate labs, students are able to use over 60 regularly
upgraded desktop computers. Both negative film and flatbed scanners also
are available. The computers host software such as AutoCAD, Photoshop,
Reality Studio, Dreamweaver, Erdas Imagine, and Office 2000.
Capable of creating and
storing digital data for graphic and nongraphic databases, CADGIS also
functions as a repository for digital maps, images, and databases. These
data constitute the beginnings of the foundation for an atlas of Louisiana
and a statewide geographic information system. As part of its work in
this area, CADGIS has a major role in the Louisiana Coastal GIS Network:
a USGS-funded project to help Louisiana organize and disseminate coastal
information.
Cartographic
Section
The Cartographic Section
(430 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex) provides cartographic drafting
and design services for the faculty of the Department of Geography and
Anthropology. These services include drafting illustrations for publication
and preparation of color slides for lectures and conference presentations.
The section provides complete darkroom facilities for the reproduction
of departmental graphics. The section is staffed by a cartographic manager,
a research associate, and a photo technician. The excellence of the Cartographic
Section has been recognized nationally and internationally.
The section also provides
advice to graduate students in the preparation of maps and other graphics
for research papers, theses, and dissertations. With the permission of
the chairman, students presenting their research at professional conferences
may have their graphics prepared by the section at a reduced fee.
Computer
Laboratory
Established
in 1988, the Computer lab provides a variety of computing facilities for
instruction and research in computer cartography, remote sensing, geographic
information systems, and spatial analysis.
Through
support from faculty research and equipment grants, the Computer lab has gone through
several generations and continued to upgrade its computing facilities. The
Computer lab currently operates 12 Windows-based computers, one black/white laser
printer, one color laser printer, a scanner, a large-format plotter, a large-format
scanner, and a large-format digitizer. A data projector, a laptop computer,
and a conference phone are also available for short-term loan to faculty
and students. A variety of software for GIS, image processing, expert
system, statistics, mathematics, database management, programming, and graphic
presentation is installed. Some of the software currently available includes
the ESRI products, the Intergraph Geomedia products, Erdas/Imagine, Surfer,
SPSS, SAS, S-Plus, SpaceStat, Visual C++, Fortran, Microsoft Office, Matlab,
Mathematica, and Qnet. A server housed in the lab links all the computers
at the CMS, Spatial, Global, and Remote Sensing laboratories.
In
addition to software and hardware, the Computer lab created a number of specialized
digital boundary files in different software formats. These include the 1982
China County Boundary Files and the Historical United States County (HUSCO)
Boundary Files, both of which are distributed by the department’s Geoscience
Publications. A number of U.S. Census boundary files are also available
for use.
The
Computer lab is accessible to faculty and graduate students in the Department of
Geography and Anthropology for research and graduate instruction. Together,
the Computer lab, the Global Lab, the Spatial Lab, and the CADGIS Lab (a lab jointly
operated by the Department of Geography and Anthropology and the College of
Design) offer a range of computing facilities that ranks among the nation's
best GIS, mapping, and remote sensing laboratories.
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FACES
Laboratory
The FACES (Forensic Anthropology
and Computer Enhancement Services) Laboratory of the Department of Geography
and Anthropology, located in the small building adjacent to the Howe-Russell
Geoscience Complex, provides services to state and parish law enforcement
agencies. The forensic anthropologist is concerned with the personal
identification of badly decomposed human bodies and skeletal remains.
Our experience best applies when more traditional criteria such as facial
appearance, fingerprints, tattoos, and scars from previous injuries or
operations are of limited value because of poor soft tissue preservation.
Data recovery is based
upon intensive osteological, morphologic, and radiographic examination
of the skeleton and dentition. The dental examination is frequently completed
in conjunction with a forensic odontologist.
Other services provided
by our facility include:
1. Consultation with
state and public personnel in matters concerning evidence used in the
personal identification of human remains.
2. Assistance
with crime scene analysis involving the investigation of the locality
for human skeletal remains (e.g., burned structures and burial sites),
and the recovery of such remains.
3. Presentation
of lectures and seminars to a variety of civic and law enforcement personnel
on forensic anthropology and its associated techniques and methodologies.
4. Repository
for unidentified human remains submitted for forensic analysis until
positive identification is achieved.
This work is done in
conjunction with crime laboratories in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Texas. Our laboratories include two large analysis labs, x-ray facilities
and equipment (including water, gas, and air fume hood, X-ray machine, film
processor, and immersion table), and miscellaneous equipment for statistical
analysis of skeletal elements.
The Forensic Anthropology
Laboratory offers a vital and unique public service to the community,
state, and region. In addition, the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children has designated LSU as a Model Age Progression Site. Mary Manhein
is director of this facility. Using sophisticated computer software,
researchers and students create age progression on missing children and
adults and conduct other educational and research projects.
The Fred
B. Kniffen Cultural Resources Laboratory
The Fred B. Kniffen Cultural
Resources Laboratory (E212 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex) furthers
inquiry into the development of historic landscapes—particularly those
of the Gulf South. The lab thus carries forward the scholarship initiated
by Professor Fred Kniffen in the 1930s—scholarship that combined keen
interests in the interpretation of historic landscapes, material culture,
and folk culture through the perspectives of cultural geography and anthropology.
Varied courses draw upon
the laboratory's facilities. These include, among others, vernacular
architecture, material culture, and the study of folklore. These are
field-oriented courses that enable students to participate in fieldwork
and interpretation of the folk cultural legacy of Louisiana and the South.
Course projects include the construction of scale models and museum dioramas.
To aid in the interpretation
of Louisianian and Southern cultures, the Cultural Resources Lab functions
as a repository for information on the culture history of the area.
Its resources include cultural surveys, a library of books and reports
on Louisiana and its material culture, examples of historic American building
surveys, and resources for dating historic buildings.
Students and faculty
participate in research and writing of professional reports on various aspects
of the culture and culture history of the state and region. Research projects
are often funded by federal and state agencies. Recent projects include
surveys of historic plantation buildings, environmental and cultural impact
statements, and reports on the culture and history of Louisiana's ethnic
communities. Summer jobs are often available to students with appropriate
training. The lab also edits a publication series interpreting cultures of
the Gulf South.
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Geoscience
Publications
Geoscience Publications
(236 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex) communicates the scholarly advances
of department faculty, students, and symposia. Among its various publications
is the prestigious monograph series Geoscience and Man. The series currently
includes more than 39 volumes, representative of which are
Atchafalaya Swamp Life; Grasslands
Ecology; Man and Cultural Heritage; Traces in Prehistory; Coastal Resources;
Historical Archaeology of the Eastern United States; Place: Experience and
Symbol; The American South; Tojolabal Maya; Cultural Diffusion and Landscapes;
The Poverty Point Culture; The Uneven Landscape: Geographic Studies in Post-reform
China; Person, Place, and Thing: Interpretative and Empirical Essays in
Cultural Geography; Culture, Form, and Place: Essays in Cultural and Historical
Geography; Latin American Geography; and The Coastal Zone.
Geoscience Publications
also houses the journal Historical
Geography; the Journal of Mayan
Linguistics; and the monograph series of the Fred B. Kniffen Cultural
Resources Laboratory, which includes Louisiana's Remarkable French Vernacular Architecture,
Historic Louisiana Nails, Historical Maps of Louisiana: An Annotated
Bibliography, and Plantations by the River. In addition,
it distributes digitized maps—the China County Boundary File and the Historical
United States (HUSCO) County Boundary Files—as well as publishes occasional
papers authored by departmental faculty, such as New Orleans Weather, 1961-1980
and An Atlas of Louisiana Surnames
of French and Spanish Origin.
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Louisiana
Office of State Climatology
The Louisiana Office
of State Climatology (LOSC) (E328 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex) is responsible
for maintaining the climatic records of the state in paper copy and
as computer data sets. Climatic data are mainly from the first-order
and cooperative station networks of the National Weather Service (NWS)
and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), with some data sets extending
back 100 years to about 1890. The office accesses specialized data sets;
an important example is the daily observations from the 12-station automated
agroclimatic network of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station
operated from the LSU Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
LOSC also maintains a collection of daily weather maps, reports, and reprints
on selected topics in climatology.
LOSC receives realtime
weather and climate data (hourly observations) for Louisiana and other
nearby places on the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) Weather Wire and selected weather maps for the U.S. and the entire
northern hemisphere by satellite receiver from the NWS Forecast Office
just outside of Washington, D.C. The staff publishes a monthly climatic
newsletter, Louisiana Monthly Climate Review, which describes the status
of Louisiana's climate in traditional as well as in synoptic and water-budget
terms; the newsletter is distributed to more than 600 interested agencies,
companies, and individuals in the United States, with about three-quarters
of the subscribers in Louisiana.
The office provides climatic
information and data in response to requests by mail, over the phone,
and at the office. Routine data are normally free to members of the LSU
community and local, state, and federal agencies, but modest fees are charged
for the general public and for non-routine requests and interpretations.
Southern
Regional Climate Center
The Southern Regional
Climate Center (SRCC) is a federally funded facility (the NOAA) organized
together with the LOSC within the Department of Geography and Anthropology.
The SRCC is responsible for climatic data, informational services, and
applied research for a six-state region including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The SRCC is closely affiliated
with the state climatologists (SCs) in each of the states and with the
Climatic Analysis Center (CAC) of the National Weather Service (NWS),
located in Washington, D.C., and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
in Asheville, North Carolina. By means of a satellite-data system, the
staff is able to monitor regional climatic variability and some of its
impacts on a day-to-day basis. The SRCC also maintains computerized climatic
data sets that span as much as 100 years.
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The World Health Organization
Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and GIS for Public Health (WHOCC)
The
World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and GIS
for Public Health (WHOCC) at LSU is dedicated to the application and advancement
of geographic information science (GISc) and geographic technologies for
public health and disease modeling. The LSU WHOCC research focuses both
on applied methodologies to solve epidemiological problems and innovative
spatial and statistical techniques for understanding disease ecology. Additionally,
the WHOCC provides field and logistical support for several collaborations
in applied ecology and conservation medicine. The WHOCC is actively involved
in projects with several public health, research, academic, and government
institutions to cooperatively work on a multitude of medical geography, spatial
epidemiology, disease ecology, and natural resource issues.
The WHOCC
is housed in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State
University. Currently the WHOCC has two laboratories:
1) The Research
Lab is located in E109 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex and currently has
five PCs. The lab is equipped with the latest GIS software and computing
hardware for increased functionality and productivity. The LSU WHOCC personnel
are proficient in multiple GIS platforms including the ESRI ArcGIS suite,
Erdas Imagine, and Geomedia Professional. Additionally, the LSU WHOCC is
a Geomedia Research Laboratory in conjunction with the LSU CADGIS Laboratory.
2) The PDA-GIS
and Telemetry Lab is located adjacent to the Research Lab in E113 Howe-Russell
Geoscience Complex. The lab is set up to design and support the field logistics
for ongoing WHOCC projects. The PDA-GIS lab provides PDA and telemetry resources
and technical support to the Department of Geography and Anthropology, the
Coastal Fisheries Institute, and the International Aquatic and Terrestrial
Conservation Medicine and Biotelemetrics Research Laboratory at the LSU School
of Veterinary Medicine.
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