McNeese State University will initiate a Young Scholars project consisting of two 3-week residential sessions in Engineering, each session to be made up of 20 students in grades 10-12. This project, focusing on coastal erosion and preservation, is offered to students from the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Holly Beach on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana is the site of current research on shore protection. Students survey the coastal area at Holly Beach and examine the coastal biology and geology. They then build model beaches in a wave tank and study the results when waves are generated from various angles. Students design model coastal protection devices and test them in the wave tank. A field trip is taken to the U.S. Corps of Engineers Waterway Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Follow-up reviews good research methodology as students design projects to be entered in science fairs.
