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| Title | Assistant Professor |
| Department | School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences |
| MHayes@agcenter.lsu.edu | |
| Address 1 | 104 Sturgis Hall Baton Rouge, LA 70803 |
| Phone | 225-578-1280 |
| Fax | 225-578-1403 |
The focus of our lab is to provide avenues of extension and environmental research for water quality issues around the state! Check out our latest extension publication and research topics to immerse yourself in Louisiana's vast water resources!
Water Quality and Energy Remote Sensing for Rural Wastewater Treatment Ponds
Energy optimization using water quality parameters will be analyzed using deployable YSI sensors in a municipal treatment pond and in conjunction with a floating photovoltaic unit in the wastewater stabilization pond. Wastewater treatment and stabilization ponds have long detention periods for water to filter through multiple ponds for anaerobic and aerobic processing. Our team will investigate the influence on parameters including water temperature, nitrates, turbidity, TSS, ammonium, and dissolved oxygen at multiple sites to understand the correlation of variables.
Wastewater Effluent Characterization from Aquaculture Processors
The DOM characterization provides traceable avenues for a waste valorization network for Louisiana communities by promoting renewable alternatives for fertilizer and modeling for the current and estimated transport of organic matter in the environmental ecosystem. Additional elemental analysis and characterizing the amino acid composition of protein-enriched aquaculture wastewater effluent will identify fluorescent indicators and nutrient composition of wastewater effluent.
Nutrient Runoff and Retention from Agricultural Farms
The range of manufacturing communities in the state provides a unique, renewable source of waste byproducts that can be utilized for research. Examples of waste valorization opportunities are sugar mills (bagasse), shrimp processors (ground shrimp shells), coffee manufacturers (coffee husks), and lumber mills (sawdust). By using waste valorization from industry to provide non-hazardous waste materials for the sorption of contaminants and nutrients our lab finds solutions that can aid agriculture in the best management practices of runoff.
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture
