Highlights from the SETAC South-Central Chapter 2025 Meeting
Jon Doering, Louisiana State University and Meeting Organizing Committee Chair
The SETAC North America South-Central Chapter held its annual meeting from 10–12 April in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was hosted by the College of the Coast & Environment at Louisiana State University (LSU). We welcomed 79 attendees from across Louisiana and Texas, most of whom were undergraduate and graduate students. Attendees came from 12 universities, two government agencies, and four businesses. The program included a total of 18 platform and 30 poster presentations. The meeting organizing committee included Jon Doering, Laura Basirico and five graduate students from LSU: Vann Boyte, Cameron Collins, Daleth Del Salto Villeda, Lauren Eagon and Sarah Kerr. The meeting was supported by sponsorship from the College of the Coast & Environment at LSU, Loligo Systems and SETAC North America.
The meeting began with a Welcome Social at Blend Wine Bar on 10 April as out-of-town attendees arrived in Baton Rouge. On April 11, the meeting began with a welcome from the outgoing chapter president, Jon Doering, and the College of the Coast & Environment’s dean, Clint Willson. Then, 18 separate platform presentations covered a wide variety of topics relevant to environmental toxicology and chemistry, including microplastics as a disturbance of food web dynamics in coastal bays, use of in silico simulations to explore the mechanism for epigenetic modification by benzo[a]pyrene, and the use of riparian Tetragnathid spiders as biosentinels of aquatic contamination. The platform topics nicely showcased the environmental challenges in the south-central states and led to great discussion during question periods and the breaks.
We changed gears for a plenary presentation by Bikram Subedi, titled “The Hidden Treasure: Wastewater as Forensic Intelligence for Public Health.” Subedi was a member of the SETAC South-Central chapter as a graduate student at Baylor University and has returned following his appointment as an assistant professor in the College of the Coast & Environment at LSU. Subedi discussed how analytical measurement of elicit drugs in wastewater can be used to estimate the number of users in a community and improve the accuracy with which decisions are made by the government and other aid organizations. After the platform presentations concluded, we shifted to our poster session with 30 posters presented on heavy metals, pesticides, dioxin-like chemicals, perchlorate, perfluorinated chemicals, nanoparticles, ultraviolet filters, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, fuel oils and wastewater. We continued the evening with a banquet of southern Cajun and Creole cuisine prepared by LSU Catering.
Students could also compete for the Best Student Presentation Awards. These awards were extremely competitive as the students all gave excellent presentations. We are excited to announce this year’s winners:
Student Awards for Platform Presentation
First Place: Elizabeth Everett, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
Second Place: Bea DiBona, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
Third Place: Rafia Afroze Rifa, Baylor University
Runner-up: Cameron Collins, Louisiana State University
Student Awards for Poster Presentation
First Place: Catherine Wise, Texas Christian University
Second Place: Izzy Nelson, University of Texas Austin
Third Place: Demetrius McAtee, Louisiana State University
Runner-up: Sarah Collette, Texas Tech University
The morning of 12 April, students attended a career discussion panel consisting of four recent graduates that have since begun careers in different job sectors. Nichole Buranzon (industry), Scott St. Romain (state government), Vanessa Van Heerden (federal government) and Laura Basirico (academia) answered questions from students about how to find a position after graduation, the transition from student life to work life, and what they do at work on the average day in their position. Career opportunities after graduation in the environmental sciences are top-of-mind for students in our chapter right now, and the board members have identified discussions about career opportunities for graduates being a top priority for the chapter, with plans to hold similar career discussion panels remotely on a semi-frequent basis.
The chapter business meeting included a changing of the guard and several new additions. Ramon Lavado, Baylor University, rolled off as immediate past president, with Jon Doering, LSU, stepping into that role. Jessica Dutton, Texas State University, became the new chapter president, while Kerry Lynn Ackerly, University of Texas at Austin, remained vice president. Jim Dobberstine, Lee College, and Kristin Nielsen, University of Texas at Austin, agreed to continue serving as treasurer and secretary, respectively. Leisha Martin, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, and Bikram Subedi, LSU, joined as new board members. Cole Matson, Baylor University; Tom Parkerton, retired from ExxonMobil; and Ed Mager, University of North Texas, remained on the board.
In the afternoon on April 12, attendees met at the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center for a guided tour of the 103-acre swamp conservation area. It was a comfortable 80°F and the sun was out, which made for the perfect weather to be outdoors. The wildlife was out enjoying the weather too, including all types of birds, water snakes, turtles, frogs and small mammals. Fresh air, sunshine, greenery and all sorts of wildlife – a fantastic end to a great conference!
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