Kelsey Van Dam, a Biological Sciences major at Loyola University New Orleans, was awarded $2,500 from the Louisiana Sea Grant Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to conduct collaborative research with Professor Frank Jordan. Kelsey will study how the recently constructed Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lake Borgne Surge Barrier affects recruitment of larval blue crabs into the Lake Pontchartrain estuary. Kelsey’s project builds upon research conducted by Environment majors Jenny Simon (BS ’14), Mallory Hirschler (BS’ 15), and Allison Davis (BS ’16) and will improve our understanding of potential tradeoffs between protecting coastal communities from flooding and sustaining economically important fishery resources.