2025
Student Competition

High school, undergraduate and graduate students were invited to participate in the State of the Coast 2025 student competition for a chance to showcase their work and win cash prizes. The purpose of the student competition is to acknowledge and celebrate emerging researchers focused on our coastal challenges.

Independent judging of the student awards was managed by Louisiana Sea Grant. Conference attendees with expertise relevant to student entries were recruited as judges, and submissions were scored by multiple judges according to a provided rubric.

The winners, the names of their presentations and their prize amounts are:

High School and Undergraduate Students

Oral Presentation

• 1st Place: Kayla Willis, Tulane University, “Coastal Wetland Surface-Elevation Change; a 14-year Comparative Analysis,” $500 

Poster

• 1st Place: Elinor Reyher, Benjamin Franklin High School, “Optimizing Nutria Management: Population Modeling and Policy Evaluation in Coastal Louisiana,” $250 

• 2nd Place: Jameson Woodall, LSU, “Using Sediment Core Analysis to Understand Decadel-Scale Sediment Dynamics in the Pass a Loutre Region,” $125 

• 3rd Place: Roan Guidry, LSU, “The Origins of Coastal Wetland Conservation Efforts in Louisiana,” $75 

Graduate Students

Oral Presentation

• 1st Place: Rongqing Du, LSU, “A Sediment Transport Model in Galveston Bay During Hurricane Harvey,” $500

• 2nd Place: Matthew Weathers, Carnegie Mellon University, “Facilitating Dynamic Adaptive Pathways for GoM Decision-Maker; Land Ice and Water Projections,” $250

• 3rd Place: Utkuhan Genc, Purdue University, “Using Equitable Access to Essential Services as Guidance for Investments in Coastal Adaptation,” $125

Poster

• 1st Place: Ali Abdelrahim, Tulane University, “Investigating the Feasibility of Using Recycled Glass Sand in Marsh Terraces in Terrebonne Bay, Louisiana,” $250

• 2nd Place: Elizabeth MacDougal, Tulane University, “Effect of Glass v Dredge on the Fungal Microbiome of Wetland Plants,” $125

• 3rd Place: Shanki Amaya Wanni Arachchige Don, LSU, “Non-Phragmites Dominated Edge and Interior Marsh Zones of the Balize Delta,” $75