Paleontology has always been a strong component of the geology program at LSU - with particular emphasis on Mesozoic and Cenozoic micropaleontology and biostratigraphy, macroinvertebrate paleontology, vertebrate paleontology, and paleoecology/paleoceanography. Our Department is the only geology department in the country to have produced three AAPG Sidney Powers Medalists; all three had specialization in paleontology. New ventures in paleontology include interdisciplinary studies in paleoecology, paleoceanography, lacustrine micropaleontology, and coastal geology.

• Evaluation of Oil and Gas Platforms on the Louisiana Continental Shelf for Organisms with Biotechnology Potential
• Evolution of Marine Invertebrates in the Neogene of Tropical America
• Late Holocene Shoreline Evolution, Benthic Communities, and Geoarcheology of the Louisiana Chenier Plain
• Biostratigraphy, Paleoecology, and Evolution of Antarctic Dinoflagellate Cysts
• Palynology and Phytoliths Applied to Geoarcheology
• Cenozoic Biostratigraphy of the U.S. Gulf Coast
• Origin and Evolution of Catahoula Lake, Louisiana
• Tertiary Terrestrial Biostratigraphy and Paleogeography of Southern North America and China
• Mammal Record for the Cretaceous-Tertiary and Paleocene-Eocene Transitions
• Adaptations and Historical Record of Benthic Foraminiferal Communities at Hydrocarbon Seeps and Vents in the Gulf of Mexico
• Stratigraphic Record of Long-Term Anthropogenic Effects Causing Oxygen Depletion ("Hypoxia") in the Shallow Gulf of Mexico

• Petrography and paleontology preparation laboratories
• Center for Excellence In Palynology (CENEX) palynologic preparation laboratory
• Optical microscopy laboratory with digital imaging capabilities
• JEOL 840A Scanning electron microscope with digital secondary and backscattered electron imaging capabilities
• JEOL JXA-733 Electron microprobe with four automated wavelength dispersive spectrometers, digital secondary and backscattered electron imaging capabilities and energy dispersive spectrometer.
• Thermal ionization mass spectrometry laboratory
• Visualization software packages associated with several UNIX and Silicon Graphics workstations
• Tomographic capabilities using the synchrotron source at LSU’s Center for Advanced Microdevices
• LSU Museum of Natural Science: Howe Microfossil collections
• LSU Museum of Natural Science: Invertebrate and Vertebrate Paleontology Collections
• CENEX Modern Pollen Reference Collection
• CENEX Palynology Research Library
• CENEX Modern Phytolith Reference Collection

• Laurie C. Anderson
  E-mail: glande@lsu.edu
• Sophie Warny Bart
  E-mail: swarny@lsu.edu
• Judith Schiebout
  E-mail: jschie@lsu.edu
• Barun K. Sen Gupta
  E-mail: glbarun@lsu.edu