Addendum to Part I: An Interview with LSU Ornithologist Dr. James Van Remsen About the Gulf Oil Disaster

E.J. Raynor sent me this list of research that has and is being done on waterbirds on the barrier islands of Louisiana.  E.J. conducted the first quantitative assessment of Louisiana barrier island waterbird use in the state's history for a Masters Degree at Nicholls State University, and has provided some details that were missing from the interview.

1) Dr. Aaron Pierce, E.J.'s advisor, is continuing research on waterbirds of the Isles Dernieres Barrier Islands Refuge  (IDBIR) in Terrebonne Parish with new graduate students.

2) Dr. Paul Leberg at University of Louisiana-Lafayette has a Ph.D. student, Scott Walter, that has been studying the Brown Pelicans on the IDBIR for four years.

3) CecIlia Leumas conducted her Masters research on Trinity Island with nest success of Least Terns and attempting to attract Skimmers and Royal Terns to nest on Trinity with decoys

4) E.J. was not Cecilia's technician but studied the seabird demography, productivity, habitat requirements, and mammalian predator activity on all the IDBIR: Wine, Trinity, Whiskey, and Raccoon Islands.

5) Aerial Surveys have been conducted see:

Michot, T.C., C.W. Jeske, J.C. Mazourek, W.G. Vermillion, and R.S. Kemmerer. 2003.  Atlas and census of wading bird and seabird nesting colonies in south Louisiana, 2001. Report No. 32. Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program. Thibodaux, Louisiana.

and references therein...