The Dead Zone: Will Shrimp and Corn Chowder Survive?

Nancy Rabalais has worked for more than 30 years to bring national attention to water quality and ecosystem concerns in the Gulf of Mexico. She leads Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium/Louisiana State University's annual survey of the Gulf hypoxic zone, tracking the impact that nutrient runoff from agriculture and developed lands in the Mississippi River watershed has had on coastal habitats. Also referred to as the “dead zone,” the hypoxic zone is a largely human-caused phenomenon where there's too little oxygen to support marine life. Rabalais’s work on coastal water quality has extended to recovery efforts following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and restoration of coastal habitats following natural disasters, including hurricanes Katrina and Harvey. The Ronald Lecture in Environmental Conservation