Louisiana State University

Graduate Minor In

Disaster Science and Management

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University (LSU) offers an interdisciplinary graduate minor in Disaster Science and Management (DSM). It is designed for graduate students throughout LSU who wish to include in their graduate studies a core of courses in the science and engineering of natural or man-made hazards, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery of disasters. Students are encouraged to utilize the extensive hazards research capabilities of LSU and orient their thesis or dissertation research towards hazards or disasters. Non-thesis degree programs may be available from some LSU departments.

This multi-disciplinary approach is designed to prepare individuals for careers in a wide range of disciplines in business and industry, government, the not-for-profit sector, and academia that require a broad understanding of disasters and hazards. The minor in Disaster Science and Management provides students with:

  • A broad understanding of the nature and impact of disasters on the natural, built and human environments;
  • A basis for establishing strategies to effectively plan for disasters, mitigate the adverse effects of disasters, respond to disasters, and recover from disasters.
This program of study is based on a coordinated approach to training of graduate students from diverse academic and fields of research and study. Each graduate student’s program of study can be tailored to his/her interests within their home department or school. Every student receives a broad-based foundation through coursework, seminars, and research studies.
PARTICIPATING UNITS

The DSM Graduate Minor (13 hours) has been designed to build on the course offerings of academic coursework at LSU from the following academic units and programs:

LSU Institutes and Centers: Many LSU institutes and centers have faculty with specialized knowledge or skills in hazards and disaster related disciplines. These units include:

ADMISSIONS A student must be accepted by the LSU Graduate School and an LSU Graduate Program. After acceptance into a departmental program, the student should work with their faculty advisory committee to identify specific coursework that will be taken in Disaster Science and Management as a part of their graduate studies at LSU.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT Graduate research assistantships may be available from participating department, institutes, and centers. The primary source of financial support is contracts and grants with individual faculty associated with the Disaster Science and Management minor.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE To earn the minor, a student must have an approved course of study from their graduate committee and satisfy the requirements of the Minor in Disaster Science and Management. The DSM Minor is intended to complement and extend the student’s primary academic program at LSU.

Students interested in the Minor in Disaster Science and Management in either the Masters or Doctorate program should complete the DSM Plan of Study Form and submit it to the DSM Director. The student’s DSM Plan of Study Form will be maintained in the DSM Office and any changes impacting the DSM Minor should be coordinated with the DSM Director. Coursework must be clearly delineated as to which hours count as major coursework and which as minor coursework.

Doctoral students interested in the DSM Minor should complete the Graduate School Program of Study Form and list Disaster Science and Management as a minor field. A representative from the DSM faculty should be included as the Minor Professor. Approval of the Minor “program of study” is provided by the DSM Director.

CURRICULUM Required Core Courses (4 hours)
  • Policies and Practices of Emergency Management (DSM 7000) (3 hours)
  • Disaster Science and Management Seminar (DSM 7910) (1 hour)
Electives (9 hours)* At least three hours must be at the 7000 level. Electives must include courses from at least two different departments (i.e., all nine hours cannot be from the same academic department). Other hazards and disaster-related courses not on the current elective list may be included with written approval from the DSM program director.
    Disaster Science and Engineering *
  • Coastal Engineering (CE 4320) (3 hours)
  • Engineering Applications of Remote Sensing (CE 4560)
  • Natural Hazards and the Built Environment (CE 4745) or Hurricane Engineering (CE 4445)
  • Quantitative Risk Assessment (EMS 4020)
  • Applied Ecology (ENVS 4010)
  • Environmental Chemistry (ENVS 4101 see also CHEM 4150)
  • Environmental Toxicology (ENVS 4477)
  • Meteorology (GEOG 4013) or Weather Analysis and Satellite Meteorology (OCS 4021)
  • Climatology (GEOG 4014) or Microclimatology (GEOG 4015) or World Climates (GEOG 4017) or Coastal Climatology (GEOG 7942)
  • Geographical Hydrology (GEOG 4018) or Hydrology (CE 4200) or Advanced Hydrology (CE7260)
  • * LSU HSC - Occupational Health and Medicine
  • * LSU HSC - Principles of Epidemiology
  • * LSU HSC - Principals of Environmental Health
  • * LSU HSC - Environmental Health & Medicine
  • Coastal Morphodynamics (OCS 4024)
  • Physical Oceanography (OCS 4170) or the Ocean World (GEOG 4028)
  • Environmental Pollution Transport Processes (OCS 4040)
    Planning and Mitigation *
  • Urban Design and Planning (ARCH 4062)
  • Community Design Studies (ARCH 7070)
  • Selected Topics in Architecture: Issues in Sustainability (ARCH 4221)
  • Crisis Management (DSM 4600)
  • Environmental Economics (ECON 4320)
  • Environmental Hazards Analysis (ENVS 4262)
  • Environmental Law and Regulation (ENVS 7043) or Land Use Law and Regulation (ENVS 7045)
  • Spatial Modeling of Environmental Data (ENVS 7050)
  • Environmental Remote Sensing (GEOG 4045), Advanced Remote Sensing Seminar (GEOG 7975), Engineering Applications of Remote Sensing (CE 4560) or Remote Sensing in Engineering Research (CE 7500)
  • Geographic Information Systems (GEOG 4047) or Advanced Geographic Information Systems (GEOG 7973)
  • Methods of Spatial Analysis (GEOG 4048) or LSU HSC - Spatial Analysis
  • Planning Disaster Resilient Communities (LA 4277)
  • Seminar on Coastal Zone Management (OCS 4465) or Coastal Resources and Management (GEOG 4029)
  • * UNO - Urban Land Use Planning & Plan Making (MURP 4010G)
  • * UNO - Development and Environmental Management (MURP 4160G)
  • * UNO - Environmental Analysis (SOC 6871)
  • * UNO - Disasters & Geographic Information Systems (MURP 4050)
  • * UNO - Environmental Planning (MURP 4140G)
  • * UNO - Planning for Neighborhoods & Small Communities (MURP 6010)
  • * UNO - City and Regional Planning (MURP 4800G)
  • * UNO - Introduction to Historic Preservation (MURP 4010G)
  • * UNO - Planning for Hazards (URBN 4159G)
  • * UNO - American City Planning (MURP 4200G)
  • * LSU HSC - Emergency Response to Disasters & Terrorism
    Social Dimensions
  • Environmental Historical Geography (GEOG 4080)
  • Family Stress Management (HUEC 4064)
  • Management of Family Resources (HUEC 7065)
  • The Contemporary Family (HUEC 7051)
  • Theories in Family Science (HUEC 7057)
  • International Conflict and Cooperation (POLI 4048)
  • International Politics of the Middle East (POLI 4059)
  • Comparative Politics of the Middle East (POLI 4061)
  • * UNO - Politics of the Developing Areas (POLI 4710)
  • Organizational Analysis for Public and Nonprofit Organizations (PADM 7911)
  • Program Evaluation (PADM 7917)
  • The Modern Middle East (REL 4096 and HIST 4096)
  • Selected Topics in Sociology: The Sociology of Terrorism (SOCL 4091)
  • Human Ecology (SOCL 4711)
  • Topics in Sociology (SOCL 4091)
  • Crisis Intervention (SW 4500)
  • * UNO - Sociology of the Environment (SOC 4871)
* LSU graduate students interested in enrolling in courses offered by the University of New Orleans (UNO) or the LSU Health Science Center (LSU HSC) should complete a “Louisiana State University Multi-Campus Application.” This form initiates the enrollment process for the UNO and LSU HSC campuses. Students list on the LSU Multi-Campus Application Form the specific courses to be taken at the “Host Campus” (UNO or LSU HSC). Students interested in enrolling at UNO or LSU HSC should discuss the courses they would like to take with their graduate faculty advisor and then complete the form. Questions concerning these courses and the Disaster Science & Management Program should be directed to the Director, Disaster Science & Management. The form should be submitted to the LSU Graduate School for processing.
DSM CURRICULUM COMMITTEE The required and elective coursework for the DSM Minor has been established by the DSM Curriculum Committee. This Committee is composed of graduate faculty who have an ongoing interest and research focus in hazards, disaster science, or emergency management. Graduate students are encouraged to talk with any member of the DSM Curriculum Committee to discuss their course of study and recommend additional courses offerings that may be included as electives for the DSM Minor.
RESEARCH FACILITIES Central components of LSU's capacity to characterize actual hazards and simulate potential disasters such as floods, a hurricane storm surge, tornado, hurricane winds, chemical incidents or acts of terrorism include direct and remote sensing labs, as well as modeling labs. The computer simulation models and labs allow faculty and graduate students to characterize and understand the impacts of disasters and hazards. The modeling programs utilize a variety of data obtained from direct and remote sensing sources as well as satellite images. The models and methods used in the LSU labs complement other modeling efforts adopted by NOAA, FEMA, and USGS. The models use data reflecting local weather conditions, terrain, or physical structures as part of the data input. Other data sources are used to monitor the actual physical event such as the extent of flooding or the dispersion of the chemical release or wind land fire.

LSU Hurricane Center. Established in 2000 to facilitate interdisciplinary research initiatives for hurricanes and other natural and man-made hazards. The Center collaborates with many other academic and research units on campus, providing access to many laboratories. It also maintains its own GIS/Environmental Modeling laboratory housing several workstations and severs.

The Computer Aided Design and Geographic Information Systems (CADGIS) Research Laboratory at Louisiana State University is dedicated to teaching and research in the areas of computer aided design, geographic information systems, remote sensing, image processing, and other computer applications in art, architecture, design, geography and anthropology, interior design and landscape architecture. Founded in 1984, this multidisciplinary computer laboratory is maintained by the College of Art and Design and the Department of Geography and Anthropology. It also provides specialized support to other academic research units of the University, to state and federal agencies, and to private organizations.

Several laboratories are within the Coastal Studies Institute. The LSU Earth Scan Laboratory is one of the few university-based remote sensing programs with its own satellite data receiving stations, and has an extensive library of historical imagery. The Laboratory has newly enhanced hardware and software capabilities for the acquisition and processing of Terra and Aqua MODIS (via X-band antenna), SAR (via X-band antenna), Oceansat OCM-1 (via X-band), GOES-8 GVAR (stationary antenna), Orbview-2 SeaWIFS and NOAA AVHRR (via L-band antenna). Earth Scan Lab hardware includes 2 Sun Ultra-60s, 1 Sun Ultra-10, 1 Sparc5, 1SGI Challenge-L file server, 1 Dell PowerEdge 2400 file server and 4 LINUX workstations. Seaspace Terascan 3.1 handles data capture, archiving, processing and visualization. Multi-year data archives are maintained, of which the twelve year archive of NOAA AVHRR data is the longest. Louisiana State funding of a high speed X-band antenna, operational since February 2001, has made possible the reception of MODIS data from Terra and Aqua as well as SAR data from Radarsat and ERS-2. The high repetition rate of GOES-8 GVAR imagery enables near-continuous atmospheric surveillance of storm systems over much of the western hemisphere from the LSU site.

The WAVCIS (Wave Current Surge Information System) is also within the Coastal Studies Institute and is one of several networks of in-situ atmospheric and water monitoring stations at LSU. This system includes a network of meteorological and ocean wave and current sensors located on oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Southern Regional Climate Center within the Department of Geography and Anthropology is one of the six National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regional climate centers. The Center collects and archives weather and climate data in the south central US, including Louisiana and Texas. The ground based weather stations throughout the United States offer detailed weather information including air, wind, and temperature readings; the ongoing readings are transferred in digital form by phone or direct input from the sensors into computers. The detailed weather data is a critical input for the modeling labs and hazard computer programs.

Louisiana Agriclimate Information System (LAIS) - operates a network of 23 land-based weather monitoring stations. These sensor systems provide a means of collecting dynamic high resolution data for coastal hazards. This array of fixed sensors is essential to high resolution modeling of hurricanes and coastal storms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Modeling of natural and man-made hazards is essential in understanding the nature and impact of disasters. The Departments of Environmental Studies, Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, and Civil and Environmental Engineering have utilized data from direct and remote sensing labs and worked closely with state and local officials to clarify the potential impact of hazards on the community resulting from natural and man-made hazards. The use of advanced satellite imaging from the Earth Scan Lab and computer modeling programs have allowed interdisciplinary research teams to assist communities in understand the potential impact of hazards that evolve suddenly or over time. The modeling laboratories allow researchers to examine the dynamics of aerosol transport as well as the impacts of winds on the natural and built environment.

The Department of Physics specializes in computational aerosol transport model development that aims to describe the size-dependent spatial and temporal aerosol pathways in enclosed atmospheres. This research has direct application to cases when particle infiltration into homes and buildings, or particle releases in the same environment is a concern.

The Wind Tunnel Laboratory in the Mechanical Engineering. and Civil & Environmental Engineering Departments includes two low-speed wind tunnels. One is capable of aerodynamic studies while the other is modular for either aerodynamic or boundary-layer (Wind-Engineering) studies. The laboratory is equipped with a Laser-Doppler Velocimetry (LDV)) system for point-wise measurements of up to two velocity components, a three-channel Constant Temperature Anemometry (CTA) system capable of point-wise, time-resolved measurement of up to two components of velocity, and a High Resolution Digital Photography (HRDP) system for visualization studies, a pressure scanning system capable of sampling up to 128 pressure taps, a six component (three forces, three moments) sting balance for aerodynamic force measurements, and computer-driven data acquisition and traversing systems.

Louisiana State University is home to one of the largest parallel architecture BEOWOLF class supercomputers in the world, an Atipa Technologies Beowulf-class supercomputer with 1,024 Intel Pentium4 processors that are tightly coupled through Myricom's myrinet network. The system allows a multi-disciplinary research team to utilize one of the most complex and dynamic hurricane models for the Gulf of Mexico. The model takes advantage of extensive RAM (1 Terabyte) and Disk storage (40 Terabytes). Early benchmarks indicate that the aggregate system will be one of the top 6 fastest machines in the world.

For further information contact:

John C. Pine

Director, Disaster Science and Management Program

E112 Howe Russell Geoscience Complex

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, LA 70803

(225) 578-1075 PHONE   (225) 578-4420 FAX

Email: jpine@lsu.edu

http://www.dsm.lsu.edu

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