Diaz Named Director of Invasive Species Research Center

LSU AgCenter entomologist Rodrigo Diaz has been named director of the AgCenter’s Center for Research Excellence for the Study of Invasive Species. The center is working to advance the understanding of destructive non-native insects, weeds, wildlife and disease-causing microorganisms.

With more than 40% of invasive species found in the United States being present in Louisiana, the center is a necessity to better understand and control them, said Matt Lee, LSU vice president for agriculture.

Diaz, whose research has focused on the study of invasive species' impact on managed and natural ecosystems, will facilitate the direction and management of the center; develop research goals and objectives; and coordinate research, education and outreach activities.

Currently, the center has collaborators at Southern University, LSU and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Tobie Blanchard

Mostafiz to Oversee Research at LaHouse

Rubayet Bin Mostafiz has been appointed assistant director of research at the LSU AgCenter LaHouse Research and Education Center.

Mostafiz has served as an assistant professor of research at LaHouse since July 2023. He previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at LaHouse. He earned his doctorate in oceanography and coastal sciences from LSU in 2022.

In 2020, Mostafiz was named a Louisiana Sea Grant Graduate Research Scholar. He earned the Outstanding Performance Recognition Award from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in 2019 for contributing to an update of the Louisiana State Hazard Mitigation Plan.

His research expertise includes spatial analysis, hazard risk assessment, climate hazard variability, impacts on the landscape and human communities, and risk estimation due to extreme weather events.

LaHouse is a display home located on LSU’s Baton Rouge campus that focuses on promoting resilient, sustainable and healthy homes and communities through research and extension. Researchers at LaHouse work on identifying the best strategies to mitigate the damage done by high-speed winds and floods.

Shelly Kleinpeter

FRST Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool Launches Nationwide to Digitize Crop Nutrient Management

A national group of scientists — including two from the LSU AgCenter — has released the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool, or FRST, a decision aid providing an unbiased, science-based interpretation of soil test phosphorus and potassium values for crop fertilization.

The FRST project is a collaboration of more than 100 soil science and agronomic professionals representing nearly 50 universities, four divisions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, several nonprofit organizations and one private sector partner. This diverse partnership underscores the collective effort and expertise invested in the development of FRST.

The LSU AgCenter is represented on the project by Jim Wang and Muhammad Rasel Parvej. Wang and Parvej expressed excitement about the launch of the decision support tool. FRST was developed in response to the pressing need to harmonize soil testing across state boundaries, improving the evaluation of soil test correlation.

The new web-based tool, available at soiltestfrst.org, represents a significant advancement in soil testing for phosphorus and potassium and nutrient management. It uses data from across the U.S. with the potential to save farmers millions of dollars annually while reducing excess nutrient losses to the environment.

V. Todd Miller