About the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Research Program

The mission of PBRP is to restore and sustain the cypress ecosystems of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, a primary objective that has evolved throughout the history of the program.

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Research Program (PBRP) was established in 2001 as an inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional program that has been consistently funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Since its inception, PBRP has awarded over four million dollars in funds to 44 investigators to conduct environmental research.

In addition to the support of investigations conducted by environmental scientists, chemists, and biologists, PBRP has also financed studies that focus on the possible links between the social, cultural, political, and economic history of the region and the degradation of its ecosystem.   

More about PBRP
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A Director and Assistant Director administer the activities of PBRP. The program functions under the auspices of the Institute of Biodiversity and Interdisciplinary Studies which is housed, administratively, in the College of Science and Technology at Southeastern Louisiana University.

PBRP is guided by an external Science Advisory Committee (SAC) that consists of twelve highly qualified and respected individuals who represent academia, federal and state agencies, the local community, and the private sector. The members of SAC provide council and guidance to the program director and through a quantitative review system, critique submitted proposals for merit and compatibility with the Program Mission.

In 2006, PBRP established an Information Transfer Team, whose primary responsibility is to ensure that the knowledge garnered in its projects will be disseminated widely to technical professionals in the regulatory agencies and to community leaders, as well as to other important stakeholders and decision makers, the general public, and to the news media.