Office of Research & Economic Development ···························· The Constant Pursuit of Discovery | 2020-21 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 CORONAVIRUS 26 BLACK HOLE 18 EXPEDITION 32 CARBON 22 FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH News Scholarship Recognition 3 Briefs 36 Black and Essential 48 Rainmakers 6 Q&A 40 Feltus Taylor 51 Accolades 45 Microbes 57 Distinguished Research Masters 59 Media Shelf NEWS BRIEFS ABOUT THIS ISSUE LSU Research is published annually by the Office of NEWS Research & Economic Development, Louisiana State University, with editorial offices in 134 David F. Boyd Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. Any written portion of this Newly Discovered Mineral Named Tracking the Dangers of Vaping publication may be reprinted without permission as long as credit for LSU Research is given. Opinions expressed for LSU Geologist By Sandra Sarr herein do not necessarily reflect those of LSU faculty or administration. By Jonathan Snow When electronic cigarettes made their debut on the market Send correspondence to the Office of Research & Like stars and ships, it is rare about 10 years ago, the general public believed they offered Economic Development at the address above or email a harmless alternative to cigarette smoking. However, that [email protected], call 225-578-5833, and visit us at: for a new mineral to be named lsu.edu/research. For more great research stories, visit: after a living person. However, notion has gone up in smoke as evidence of harmful health lsu.edu/research/news. that honor was accorded effects builds. As of December 2019, more than 2,561 people throughout the U.S. have been hospitalized or died due to lung Louisiana State University and Office of Research to LSU mineralogist Barb & Economic Development Administration Dutrow by the International injuries linked to vaping or e-cigarette use, according to the FROM THE Thomas Galligan, Interim President Mineralogical Association. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stacia Haynie, Executive Vice President and Provost The new mineral “dutrowite” Samuel J. Bentley, Vice President, Research & Economic LSU Credit: “These deaths and illnesses are related to vaping, and it’s only is a member of the tourmaline Development Dutrowite is the newly named the tip of the iceberg. Doctors are just now seeing the harmful VICE PRESIDENT family of gemstone minerals. Keena Arbuthnot, Associate Vice President, Social mineral in the tourmaline family. effects,” said Alexandra Noël, assistant professor in the Sciences, Humanities, and Allied Fields Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the LSU The theme for this issue of LSU Research is frontiers, which we Stephen David Beck, Associate Vice President, Arts, Tourmalines have been prized for their intense color and chose long before the global pandemic. This focus is more relevant Compliance & Operations clarity, since ancient times. They are composed of silicon, School of Veterinary Medicine. than ever for the work that we do today at LSU. We are positioned at Stephania Cormier, Associate Vice President, Science, aluminum, oxygen, boron, and—in this case—precise Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Noël is conducting a research the forefront of research and discovery with an urgency to respond amounts of sodium, iron, and titanium. The new mineral to and outpace the virus that has shaken the entire world. Our social Andrew Maas, Associate Vice President for Research, project funded by the Food and Technology Transfer was discovered in the rugged Apuan Alps of Tuscany, Italy, scientists are studying the effects of the pandemic and helping us Drug Administration and the near the picturesque Grotta del Vento or “Cave of the Wind.” put it into context with their analyses, as shown in the cover story, LSU Research National Institutes of Health to It formed from the compression and heating of a volcanic Coronavirus: Learning from Disaster, Reinvesting in Humanity. Publisher and Executive Editor: Stephen David Beck collect, measure, and evaluate rock called rhyolite during the collision of the African plate Editor-in-Chief: Alison Lee Satake information on vaping’s impact on Despite the challenges the pandemic has brought, our researchers Coordinators: Holly Carruth and Kristin Smith with the European plate about 20 million years ago. The and scholars continue to push the frontiers in their respective the lungs. She hopes results from Contributing Writers: Ernie Ballard, E Pluribus Unum staff, Italian researchers who discovered and named dutrowite fields. This past year, an expedition to one of the most remote her studies will help people make Ted Griggs, Elsa Hahne, Rachel Holland, Sarah Catherine cited Dutrow’s contributions to mineral sciences and crystal parts of the Amazon rainforest was led by an LSU PhD candidate. LaBorde, Mimi LaValle, Jessica Manafi, Ferris Wayne informed decisions and keep them chemistry, particularly with respect to her work on the utility She led an all-women expedition in honor of famed naturalist McDaniel, Tamara Mizell, Sandra Sarr, Alison Lee Satake, safe from the dangers of vaping. Emilie Snethlage, who was a pioneer in discovering and collecting Jonathan Snow, and Christine Wendling of tourmaline and the mineral staurolite, for recording numerous bird species in the Amazon rainforest more than a Designer: Maggie Mosby chemical signatures of geologic processes. “People initially thought vaping Contributing Designers: Jewel Hampton, Tyronecia Moore, century ago. Simultaneously on the other end of the spectrum, our was safer than cigarette smoking. Alexandra Noël and Marcus Soniat astrophysicists at LSU and LIGO are discovering new phenomena We could see in the lab that it is not safe. Inhaling e-cigarette in the farthest reaches of the universe. These are challenging times, Photographers: Elsa Hahne, Eddy Perez, and Katherine Seghers vapor is harmful,” she said. but they are also exhilarating times. As proven from past adversities, Production Coordinator: Jo Glenny we will emerge from this stronger, wiser, and more resilient. To track the dangers of vaping, Noël and her research team are About the Cover We hope you enjoy reading about the research at LSU. Visit examining how two design characteristics of third-generation This cover alludes to the feelings one may experience lsu.edu/research and follow us @LSUResearch on Twitter and when on the journey to discovering something new. It is tank-style e-cigarette devices—an atomizer, or coil, resistance Facebook for more stories throughout the year. a reminder that no one simply arrives at enlightenment. system and a battery voltage system—affect e-cigarette vapor You must be willing to embrace the uncomfortable aspect composition and cellular toxicity. of the process. The darkness and black is the unknown— doubt, anticipation, and the realization of vast possibilities. The blueish-purple is the action or the work whilst being According to Noël, who specializes in lung diseases, cigarette consumed by imagination and creativity—embracing risks. LSU Credit: smoking is a slow killer, but the relatively recent phenomenon The white highlight is the arrival—the awakening and the Barb Dutrow Samuel J. Bentley feelings of enlightenment and fulfillment. —Tyronecia of vaping involves different chemicals that can have a rapid Vice President, Research & Economic Development Moore, LSU graphic designer and cover artist. “I am surprised and thrilled to be honored in this way,” said health impact. Facts about vaping, including what chemicals Billy and Ann Harrison Chair in Sedimentary Geology Dutrow, who is the Gerald Cire & Lena Grand Williams Alumni make up the tiny particles that enter users’ lungs when the Professor in the LSU Department of Geology & Geophysics. vapor is inhaled and how they affect health over the long term, are only beginning to be scientifically documented. “A lifelong passion of mine has been to discover and decode the geologic information embedded in tourmaline; this “We are independently attempting to verify claims made by LSU IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/ACCESS UNIVERSITY Produced by the LSU Division of Strategic Communications recognition is a highlight of our discoveries,” she said. vaping device producers,” she said. 353-0051 • 675 • 1/21 2 | 2020-21 | 3 NEWS BRIEFS “Genetic data have revolutionized what we can distinguish between shrews. A lot of species are first recognized as being genetically distinct, then we look at their morphology, or physical features,” Esselstyn said. LSU Mourns the Loss of Two World-Renowned Physicists By Mimi LaValle and Elsa Hahne LSU Professor and Hearne Chair of Theoretical Physics Credit: Kevin Rowe, Museums Victoria Rowe, Kevin Credit: Jonathan P. Dowling passed away on June 5, 2020. He was LSU researchers discovered the hairy-tailed shrew in Indonesia. 65 years old. LSU Boyd Professor of Physics and National The Naming of the Shrew Academy of Sciences member E. Ward Plummer passed away on July 23, 2020. He was 79 years old. Both faculty members By Alison Lee Satake were internationally renowned physicists. Researchers at LSU have discovered a new species of shrew, Dowling was an Irish-American researcher and professor which they have named the hairy-tailed shrew, or Crocidura of theoretical physics, known for his work on quantum caudipilosa. technology for applications in quantum computing, quantum metrology, quantum sensing, and quantum imaging. He “There was no doubt that this was a new species,” said LSU also was known for his playful style and witticisms in his Museum of Natural Science Mammal Curator Jake Esselstyn, lectures and seminars. He had an ability to light up a room whose work on Sulawesi Island in Indonesia led to the with laughter, and due to this talent, he was regularly asked discovery published in the Journal of Mammalogy. “There isn’t to deliver after-dinner talks at research conferences. He had another species on the island that has as much hair on its tail, unbounded optimism and a bright vision for the future. in terms of shrews.” Credit: LSU Credit: “Jon was a stellar scientist, colleague, and an internationally Jonathan Dowling and Ward Plummer The newly discovered shrew is slender with gray-brown fur on recognized expert in his field.