14 Facts About Nancy Rabalais

Nancy Rabalais researches dead zones in the marine environment and is an expert in eutrophication and nutrient pollution.

Nancy Rabalais began further graduate studies in 1979, working towards her Ph.

Since 1985, Nancy Rabalais has studied the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone off the coast of Louisiana, the largest hypoxic zone in the United States.

Nancy Rabalais joined the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in 1983 and, with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, identified a substantial hypoxic zone that had been affecting shrimpers.

Nancy Rabalais has testified to Congress on the problem of nutrient pollution from agricultural and storm water runoff.

Nancy Rabalais was the president of the nonprofit Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation from 1997 to 1999.

Nancy Rabalais referred to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill as an "oilmageddon".

Nancy Rabalais leads annual research surveys to determine the size of the dead zone.

Nancy Rabalais has chaired the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council.

Nancy Rabalais was the recipient of an NOAA Environmental Hero Award and Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellowship in 1999, the 17th Annual Heinz Award in 2011 and MacArthur Fellowship in 2012.

Nancy Rabalais was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021.

Nancy Rabalais has been published in the journals Biogeosciences, BioScience, Nature, and Science.

Nancy Rabalais is married to R Eugene Turner, an LSU colleague whom she has published work with before, including their book Coastal Hypoxia: Consequences for Living Resources and Ecosystems.

Nancy Rabalais's work focuses inshore, while hers is in the waters of the Gulf.