Dr. Meena Vijayaraghavan, a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Cell and Molecular Biology Department is a Co-Investigator of a 2-year, $30,000 EPA environmental education grant. She collaborated with Dr. Jessica Kastler, the educator of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) for this project. She has involved 11 students from her freshman general biology classes in service learning, on environmental monitoring and education. The students collected water quality data from several locations such as Audubon Park, Audubon Zoo, and Mississippi River levees and posted their data into the LUMCON online database (Bayou side class room) for the education institutions to access and learn from.
Toward the end of their course, the students made presentations on their work at the African American Museum as part of the Tulane University Center for Public Service. Dr. Vijayaraghavan is interested in continuing the partnership with LUMCON and extending the project in future by involving her students in mentoring of students from New Orleans public schools.