THIBODAUX, La. — Nicholls State University Department of Biological Sciences, Nicholls Football and Shell are excited to announce a $21,000 contribution to university coastal restoration projects.
Shell committed $175 for every Colonel first down at Guidry Stadium this fall. The Colonels picked up 120 first downs during their five home games.
“Shell is proud to sponsor Nicholls State University’s efforts to preserve and protect our working coast,” said Rick Tallant, Shell’s vice president of production for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. “Over the past several years, this partnership to power coastal restoration has seen the University grow out tens of thousands of plants for restoration projects and our employees have logged hundreds of volunteer hours planting them along the coast.”
The money will be used to support Nicholls’ existing coastal restoration work, including the propagation of mangroves at the Nicholls farm to plant on the coast, clean up efforts on beaches and bayous and the planting of native coastal vegetation. Nicholls Biology plays a hands-on role in coastal restoration by partnering with the Nicholls Geomatics program to use drones to monitor barrier islands and spread awareness of coastal issues in local schools.
“We are very appreciative of Shell’s continued support as a valuable partner to Nicholls and the South Louisiana community,” said Dr. Allyse Ferrara, distinguished service professor and Jerry Ledet Endowed Professor of Environmental Biology. “This money allows us to be flexible and responsive when working with community partners and volunteers.”
Shell has a long history of working with and alongside Nicholls to address environmental challenges. They have helped remove over 3,000 lbs of beach trash during the 2019 International Coastal Cleanup at Elmer’s Island, paid for recycling bins to help keep campus beautiful and helped the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program plant more than 3,000 new trees in Plaquemines Parish, to name a few examples. In total, Shell has contributed more than $250,000 to Nicholls biology for environmental work over the years.
For more information on the Nicholls Department of Biological Sciences visit www.nicholls.edu/biology.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 9, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Jacob Batte, Media Relations and Publications Coordinator, 985.448.4141 or jacob.batte@nicholls.edu
