Four Louisiana-led projects are among the top 10 finalists for a $50 million award from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Futures Challenge. The prize seeks to boost resilience, sustainability, and public safety across the Gulf Coast, and Louisiana institutions have emerged as clear frontrunners.
Three of the selected proposals involve Louisiana State University, showcasing the state’s leadership in climate and energy innovation. One of the LSU-backed projects, the Community Co-Financed Flood and Energy Resilience initiative, aims to develop infrastructure and financing strategies in partnership with community groups to tackle flooding and energy insecurity in four Gulf communities.
Another finalist, the Community Lighthouse project, is led by the Greater New Orleans Foundation and LSU’s School of Social Work. It proposes building neighborhood-scale solar and battery-powered microgrids at 80 local hubs. These would function as a decentralized “Virtual Power Plant” to ensure power availability during grid failures, a growing concern during hurricanes and severe weather events.
A third LSU initiative, in collaboration with the University of Louisiana, targets Iberia Parish with a clean energy hub combining solar energy, carbon capture, and workforce training for economically underserved populations.
Also representing Louisiana is the Gulf Hub project by the Louisiana Public Health Institute. It plans to convert health centers across four states into resilience hubs, benefiting an estimated 400,000 people. The project also aims to enhance research into disaster recovery and public health outcomes.
The Gulf Futures Challenge is administered by the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program in partnership with Lever for Change. It received entries from all five Gulf states, with the Louisiana projects standing out for their community-driven and science-based solutions.
The $50 million award winner will be announced in 2026. Funding will support projects that use applied science and engineering to address critical environmental and public health challenges along the Gulf Coast.
