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Permalink Reply by mskillerbee on May 31, 2011 at 11:50

How horrible to have to wait and see if you still have your job.  I have been in this position in the past but never in an economy like this one! I hope this doesn't happen.  The LGS contributions to the state for the oil and gas industries and the myriad resources and information collected and shared is enormous.  Another, less well known, is the service to earth science knowledge the resources at the LGS serve for educators.  I love the subject I teach, and the LGS is the only resource that offers a wealth of local and state geological information that i can share with my students. The resource on Louisiana's Geological History is a wonderful tool to use and I have used it while teaching both high school and middle school with excellent student response.  Louisiana has so much potential, a geo-history that is interesting and even exciting and a future population of citizens who are currently students in all levels K- 16 who will soon be consumers and decision makers. The loss of the high quality and accessible information on Louisiana's geology and formation would be yet another signal to the rest of the nation that the students of Louisiana are not a priority to our state leadership.  These students will soon move out into the adult world and will be the ones left to fix, reform and repair our state environmentally while simultaneously developing sustainable and profitable business and industry.  They can't do that unless they have a good sound foundation in science, and earth science is a critical part of this along with all the other important academic courses.  I know this website is focused on the natural gas industry in our state and is a wonderful source if information in and of itself. I just wanted to let anyone who may not know of an additional value of the Louisiana Geological Survey to earth science educators like myself.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on June 2, 2011 at 2:15

The LGS needs to become an independent State sponsored not-for-profit corporation that can charge fees for their services. This is what the State Tourist Commission has done with the Tourism Promotion Group. They print and/or distribute tourism materials for a fee charged to the groups promoted. The same could be done with the LGS. It would be a tragedy for a group with so much knowledge to be eliminated because LSU is not interested in funding them.

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Permalink Reply by Max on June 2, 2011 at 3:21

LSU funding?

 

The post indicated the funding of the program came from the U.S. Geological Survey.  How does LSU tie into this? 

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Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on June 2, 2011 at 3:38

The Legislature created it in 1934 then transfered it from the Dept. of Natural Resources to LSU in 1997. LSU has provided the primary funding since then which is a little less than 1 million dollars per year. They do get grants from other sources. But that would be on a grant by grant basis for services rendered. According to what I read they were never reimbursed for the emergency work that they did during Katrina for mapping and other services to either State or Federal groups.

LSU is cutting them off because they feel football and Medical services are more important.

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Permalink Reply by Max on June 2, 2011 at 5:09

LSU Football.......A feller in Louisiana could get into a lot of trouble if he said the wrong things about football and LSU.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on June 2, 2011 at 7:59

First Max, I love LSU Football. But, You have to ask: What is more important to the long range success of the State. A research group that produces information that we as mineral owners and the State as a whole can use or to make a few football players "kings" and after they leave the university never come back to contribute anything? You just have to keep things in prospective.

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