RECORDING EVOLUTION OF A RAPIDLY CHANGING BARRIER ISLAND IN A MULTI-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECT

Rapid erosion and a high regional subsidence rate approach 1 cm per year threaten Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island, and the critical energy infrastructure, fishing and tourism industries based on this part of the gulf coast. Undergraduates in an introductory physical geology course at Tulane University monitoring the changing profile of the beach in Grand Isle State Park using GPS and standard surveying equipment since the spring of 2008. The profile measurements quantify movement of the island's sand but reveal nothing of the potential causes of erosion or localized deposition relevant to understanding or preventing the losses. Consistent use of digital photography at the ends of ~ 60 survey transects during quasi-monthly profile measurements record changes in the dunes/levee, off shore bar and vegetative characteristics of the beach over time. The visual imagery enhances overall understanding of changes in the beach environment relevant to its erosion that would be difficult to record consistently with lower division students, often in their first collegiate science course and initial visit to a barrier island. Use of the images to construct long-term visual records of the beach further ties together the collective student observations over the 20-month life of the project for all to observe, including periods of steady erosion, beach nourishment efforts by the Army Corp of Engineers, destruction by hurricanes Gustav and Ike and recovery of the system thereafter. When combined with the profile measurements, these photographic data represent a key resource for undergraduate research projects as well as education of college students and the wider public audience living on and visiting Grand Isle and similar barrier islands.