John R. White
Position: Associate Dean of Research and Professor, John and Catherine Day Professor, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences
Phone: 225-578-8792
Fax: 225-578-6423
E-mail: jrwhite@lsu.edu
Office: 3239 Energy, Coast and Environment Building
Bachelor's Degree(s): B.S. Washington and Lee, 1988 (Geology)
Master's Degrees(s): M.S. Florida Institute of Technology, 1992 (Geological Oceanography) and Florida Institute of Technology, 1993 (Coastal Zone Management)
Ph.D.(s): Ph.D. University of Florida, 1999 (Soll & Water Science - Focus on Wetland Biogeochemistry)
Wetland and Aquatic Biogeochemistry Laboratory website
Research Interests
Our research focuses on biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in aquatic systems including coastal and freshwater wetlands, estuaries and lake sediments, treatment performance of constructed wetlands for nutrients and pharmaceuticals removal, dynamics of internal nutrient loading, microbial-mediated nutrient transformations, plant-nutrient-soil dynamics. We provide critical research in helping coastal restoration managers to make informed decisions.
Classes Taught
OCS 4242. Wetlands and Water Quality (Spring) 3 credits – Service Learning Class
OCS 7165. Biogeochemistry of Wetland Soils and Sediments (Spring) 3 credits
Awards & Honors
Dean’s Outstanding Service Award 2018
Fellow – Soil Science Society of America 2017
Coast & Environment Outstanding Faculty Research Award 2015
LSU Alumni Association Award for Faculty Excellence 2012
Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award 2011
Joe and Richard Lipsey Professional Educators Award 2008
Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award 2008
Coast & Environment Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award 2006
Professional Affiliations and Service Activities:
Associate Dean of Research – College of Coast & Environment LSU 2018-current
United States EPA – Board of Scientific Counselors – Safe and Sustainable Waters 2018-current
Soil Science Society of America - fellow
American Geophysical Union - member
Society of Wetland Scientists – member
Recent Publications
* = student led publications Select list out of over 105 Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
Snow, C, S. Bargu, C.N. Hammond, M. Hiatt, J.R. White. 2023. Effect of Mississippi River Discharge Plume on Temporal and Spatial Variability of Toxic Cyanobacteria in an Oligohaline Estuary. Hydrobiologia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05322-3
Hunter, R, R.R. Twilley, A. Freeman, B. Couvillion, T. Quirk, N. Jafari, G. Mariotti, C. Norman, G.P. Kemp, J.R. White, E. Meselhe. 2023. The Concept of Land Bridge Marshes in the Mississippi River Delta and Implications for Coastal Restoration. Nature-Based Solutions. 3: 100061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2023.100061
Sapkota, Y., S. Bargu, J.R. White. 2023. Temporally-Displaced Mississippi River Spring Flood Pulse Shows Muted Aquatic Ecosystem Response in Estuarine Waters: A Climate Change Warning for Coastal Foodwebs. Science of the Total Environment 874:162623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162623
Sapkota, Y., J.R. White, K. Xu, K. Maiti, P.W. Inglett. 2023. Temporal variability in soil organic matter accretion rates in coastal deltaic wetlands under changing depositional environments. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 87(2):390-403. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20515
White, J.R., Couvillion, B., Day, J.W. 2023. Coastal Wetland Area Change for Two Freshwater Diversions In the Mississippi River Delta. Ecological Engineering. 185:106814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2022.106819
Wang, L., Han, X., Zhang, Y, Zhang, Q., Wan, X., Liang, T., Song, H., Bolan, N., Shaheen, S., White, J.R., Rinklebe, J., 2023. Impacts of land uses on spatio-temporal variations of seasonal water quality in a regulated river basin, Huai River, China. Science of the Total Environment. 159584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159584
Cheng, J. and White, J.R.. 2022. Dredge-Material Created Coastal Marshes are More Effective at Improving Water Quality Than Natural Marshes in Early-Stage Development. Ecological Engineering. 185:106814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2022.106814
Zhang, S, Chen, S., Jin, J., Wu, G., Bolan, N., White, JR, Shaheen, SM, Rinklebe, J., Chen, Q. 2022. Incorporation of Calcium Cyanamide and Straw Reduces Phosphorus Leaching in a Flooded Agricultural Soil. Geoderma 428:116150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.116150
Li, W, Wang, L., Yang, X., Liang, T., Zhang, Q., Liao, X., White, J.R. and Rinklebe, J. 2022. Interactive Influences of Meteorological and Socioeconomic Factors on Ecosystem Service Values in a River Basin with Different Geomorphic Features. Science of the Total Environment. 829: 154595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154595
Bowes, K., J.R. White, K. Maiti and E. Meselhe. 2022. Surface Water Temperature Impacts on Denitrification: Implications for River Reconnection. Science of the Total Environment. 828:154397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154397
R.L. Iles, N.D. Walker, J.R. White and R.V. Rohli 2020. Impacts of a Major Mississippi River Freshwater Diversion and Winds on Suspended Sediment Plume Kinematics in Lake Pontchartrain. Estuaries and Coasts. doi:10.1997/s12237-929-00789-y
A. Chauhan, A. Pathak, R. Jaswal, X. Xu, J.R. White, B. Edwards III, J. Hunt, S. Brooks, R. Rathore, M. Agarwal. 2020. Characterization of Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages from Historically Contaminated Metalliferous Soil Using Metagenomics Coupled with Diffusion Chambers and Microbial Traps. Frontiers in Microbiology. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01024
Corrigendum to “An Investigation of Early Season River Flood Pulse: Carbon Cycling in a Subtropical Estuary [Sci. Total Environ. (2018) 867–877/635] 2020. Science of the Total Environment. 719:137312.
Garcia, J., G. Galan, J.W. Day, R. Boopathy, J.R. White, S. Wallace and R.G. Hunter. 2020. Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) and Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARG): Increasing Removal with Wetlands and Reducing Environmental Impacts. Bioresource Technology 307:123228.
Huang, W., C. Li, J.R. White, S. Bargu, B. Milan and S. Bentley. 2020. Numerical Experiments on variation of freshwater plume and leakage effect from Mississippi River diversion in Lake Pontchartrain Estuary. Journal of Geophysical Research:Oceans 125:e2019JC015282.
*Spera, A.C., J.R. White, R. Corstanje. 2020. Influence of a Freshwater River Diversion on Sedimentation and Phosphorus Status in a Wetland Receiving Basin. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 238:106728.
*Sapkota, Y., and J.R. White 2020. Carbon offset market methodologies applicable for coastal wetland restoration and conservation in the United States: A review. Science of the Total Environment 701:134497.
Steinmuller, H.E., M.P. Hayes, N.R. Hurst, Y. Sapkota., R. Cook, J.R. White, Z. Xue, L.G. Chambers. 2020. Does Edge Erosion Alter Coastal Wetland Soil Properties? A Multi-Method Biogoechemical Study. Catena. 187:104373.
*Haywood, B.J., M.P. Hayes, J.R. White and R.L Cook. 2020. Potential Fate of Wetland Soil Carbon in a Deltaic Coastal Wetlands subjected to High Relative Sea Level Rise. Science of the Total Environment. 711:135185.
*Putnam-Duhon, L.A., J.R. White, R.P. Gambrell, and K.A. Rusch. 2020. Treatment of wastewater ammonium under varying salinity conditions within the marshland upwelling system. Environmental Technology, 41(12): 1504-1513.
*Sapkota, Y. and J.R. White. 2019. Marsh edge erosion and associated carbon dynamics in coastal Louisiana: A proxy for future wetland-dominated coastlines world-wide. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 226: 106289.
*Vaccare, J., J.R.White and E. Meselhe. 2019. The Denitrification Potential of Eroding Wetlands in Barataria Bay, LA USA: Implications for River Reconnection. Science of the Total Environment. 686: 529-537.
White, J.R., R.D. DeLaune, D. Justic, J. Pahl, J. Day, R. Lane, W. Boynton, R.R. Twilley . 2019. Consequences of River Water Introduction on Nutrient Dynamics of Coastal Deltaic Wetland Soils and Estuarine Sediments: A Case Study of Mississippi River Diversions in Louisiana. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 224: 209-216.
Bargu, S., D. Justic, J.R. White, R. Lane, J. Day, H. Paerl, R. Raynie. 2019. Mississippi River Diversions and Phytoplankton Dynamics in Deltaic, Gulf of Mexico Estuaries: A Review. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 221:39-52.
Ghaisas, K. Maiti, J.R. White. 2019. Coupled Iron and Phosphorus Release From Seasonally Hypoxic Louisiana Shelf Sediments. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 219:81-89.
*Hurst, N.R., J.R. White, K. Xu and M. Ren. 2019. Nitrate Reduction Rates in Sediments Experiencing Turbulent Flow Conditions. Ecological Engineering. 128:33-38.
Steinmuller, H., K. Dittmer, J.R. White and L.G. Chambers. 2019. Understanding the Fate of Soil Organic Matter in Submerging Coastal Wetland Soils: A Microcosm Approach. Geoderma. 337:1267-1277.