Acadiana education

Student to compete in national rodeo

GRAND COTEAU — Chloe Frey, an eighth-grade student at Academy of the Sacred Heart, has earned a position on the Louisiana state National Junior High rodeo team and will travel with fellow teammates to Gallup, N.M., June 24-30 to compete in the ribbon-roping competition at the eighth annual National Junior High Finals Rodeo.

The rodeo features more than 1,000 contestants from the U.S., Canada and Australia competing for more than $75,000 in prizes and $100,000 in scholarships.

Twilley to direct
Sea Grant program

LAFAYETTE — Robert Twilley ends his two years as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s vice president of research to return to LSU in mid-August as the director of the Louisiana Sea Grant Program, according to an LSU news release.

Twilley previously worked at LSU as its associate vice chancellor of research and economic development and played a role in the development of the university’s interdisciplinary programs focused on coastal restoration, the news release says.

He has also contributed his expertise to the state’s coastal protection and restoration plans.

During his tenure at ULL, Twilley also worked as the interim chief executive officer for the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise Center.

Twilley holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and his doctorate in plant ecology and systems ecology from the University of Florida. He completed his post doctoral research in coastal oceanography at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies, the news release says.

Based at LSU, the Louisiana Sea Grant is part of the National Sea Grant College Program, a network of 32 university-based programs in each of the U.S. coastal and Great Lakes states and Puerto Rico.

‘Day of Action’ serves community

LAFAYETTE — More than 500 volunteers mobilized Thursday as part of United Way of Acadiana’s 18th annual Day of Action to improve the community, according to an agency news release.

Projects included reading to children, teaching “Budget Buddy” financial savings and budgeting courses to 9- to 13-year-old children, “stuffing the bus” with school supplies for local children, training community members to become “Money Smart” coaches, gardening, sorting food, and other activities, the release stated.

For information about ongoing volunteer opportunities, visit the United Way of Acadiana at http://www.unitedwayof
acadiana.org.

Compiled by the
Acadiana bureau