Nancy Rabalais Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
04/27/2021
BATON ROUGE – LSU College of the Coast & Environment Professor Nancy Rabalais is among
the 120 newly elected members to the most prestigious scientific society in the U.S.,
the National Academy of Sciences. Rabalais is recognized for her distinguished achievements
in original research. She is also among the 59 women who have been elected, the most
women elected in a single year to the National Academy of Sciences.
Rabalais is an LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences professor and the
Shell Endowed Chair in oceanography and wetland studies. Since the mid-1980s, she
has been characterizing the dynamics of the large region in the northern Gulf of Mexico
where the oxygen levels in the bottom waters are so low in spring and summer that
fish, shrimp and crabs cannot survive. Her research has documented and tracked linkages
between oxygen depletion, or hypoxia, in the Gulf of Mexico to landscape use and increasing
nitrogen and phosphorus delivered to the Mississippi River. These findings have led
to federal legislation concerning the diminished water quality.
“My humble research beginnings in 1976 have grown into a ‘village,’ which is an interdisciplinary
science approach that is essential to tackle global problems such as improving environmental
quality. I share this honor of being elected to the National Academy of Sciences with
all of my colleagues,” she said.
Rabalais serves on numerous boards and panels for federal agencies and national organizations.
Currently, she is serving on the National Research Council’s “Oil in the Sea – IV”
committee. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
the American Geophysical Union, a John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur “genius” awardee
and now a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She graduated with a B.S. and
M.S. from Texas A&I University, which is now called Texas A&M University-Kingsville,
and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
“The historic number of women elected this year reflects the critical contributions
that they are making in many fields of science, as well as a concerted effort by our
Academy to recognize those contributions and the essential value of increasing diversity
in our ranks,” said National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt. “I am pleased
to welcome all of our new members, and I look forward to engaging with them in the
work of the National Academies.”
Rabalais is now among the 2,461 National Academy of Sciences members, which includes
LSU Boyd Professor Gabriela González, who was elected in 2017.
The National Academy of Sciences has elected LSU faculty as members in the past. They
include the late Professor of Physics E. Ward Plummer, the late Pennington Biomedical Research Center Professor in Physiology and Pharmacology
S. M. McCann and the late Richard Russell, who was the founding director of the LSU Coastal Studies Institute.
In addition, 30 international members were elected this year. The total number of
international members is now 511. International members are nonvoting members of the
Academy with citizenship outside the U.S.
Additional Link:
Newly Elected National Academy of Sciences Members: nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2021-nas-election.html
Contact Alison Satake
LSU Media Relations
510-816-8161
asatake@lsu.edu