Brogan Burns features editor
Louisiana’s land loss crisis continues to erase the coast.
“We need to protect, restore, and conserve every acre that we possibly can,” says Polly Glover, project manager of Restore or Retreat, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the Louisiana coast..
Each generation is doing work to protect the coast from education, to front-line work and advocacy.
“We need to protect, restore, and conserve every acre that we possibly can.”
Educating
Susan Testroet-Bergeron, current geology instructor at Nicholls and former director of the Barrataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program, is now using education to protect the coast.
Bergeron, a baby boomer, is working to instill her college students with a desire to take action on Louisiana’s coast.
“It came to mind that I should do something important for other people,” Bergeron says. “It gives me a chance to share that knowledge with the next generation because they are inheriting a lot of environmental and geological issues.”
Bergeron has begun to see the fruits of her labor only months into teaching, as students are learning new things about the coast. She says some students are even getting involved.
“Coastal geology opened my eyes to how much we take Louisiana for granted. I learned that the land isn’t guaranteed,” says Anne-Morgan Simmons, a student in Bergeron’s coastal geology class. “Now that I understand it, I can’t unsee it or ignore it.”
Bergeron’s work as an educator is important to the future of the coast, as it inspires the younger generation to protect the coast.
“Without education, we won’t be able to inspire new generations of coastal advocates who want to go into careers that will eventually work on saving the coast,” says Nicki Boudreaux, director of education and engagement at BTNEP.
“Coastal geology opened my eyes to how much we take Louisiana for granted. I learned that the land isn’t guaranteed. Now that I understand it, I can't unsee it or ignore it.”
In the Field
Another place to make progress for Louisiana’s coast is in the field. Hayden David, a member of Gen Z and a biology major at Nicholls, is working at the BTNEP Plant Nursery, helping cultivate plants for use in restoration projects.
Recent work focused on a high marsh area near Port Fourchon, which has shown early signs of success.
“We’ve seen a larger resurgence of habitat in that high marsh area. So from what we’re doing at BTNEP and planting marsh, we are seeing areas sustained by our plants,” David said. “Us growing the plants here and going out and planting them on the coast is helping.”
Other opportunities for students to combat coastal erosion are using drones to conduct aerial land surveys to determine how much land has been lost or taking part in the mass communication department’s environmental class, which is working closely with restoration organizations like BTNEP to plan events and spread awareness.
Advocacy
Glover, a member of Gen X and the program director of Restore or Retreat, has made a career of advocacy.
She has spent most of her career speaking up for others and advocating for Louisiana’s wetlands.
“My job consists of going out and getting the volunteers to come with us to participate in projects and site-specific vegetative plantings out in the wetlands in South Louisiana,” Glover says.
Her stories of coastal land loss are what make her advocacy so powerful.
She grew up on the coast, experiencing it with her father, a state-employed engineer working on the coast.
“He introduced me to the wetlands as a young child, so I had the opportunity to watch it all disappear,” Glover says. “That drives my advocacy.”
Glover has shared her story at conferences focused on restoration efforts and in front of government officials to push restoration bills.
Her story became so powerful that it gained national and international attention in an interview with the Washington Post, helping to spread awareness of the crisis even further.
Sharing stories of coastal life, Boudreaux says, is the best way to spread awareness of the coastal crisis.
“Tell your stories, that’s the most important thing,” Boudreaux says.
Everyone's Work
Not everyone has a story like Glover’s, does fieldwork like David, or teaches at a university like Bergeron, but everyone can do something, says Bergeron.
One easy way to get involved is to vote. Bergeron says, “Citizens have the responsibility, if they live in America, to contact their delegates and say, ‘this is how I want you to vote.’”
Volunteering your time and passing on lived experiences to the younger generation is another thing everyone can do to effect change.
“Volunteer your time when you can to help with restoration projects, teach your kids the way of life you experienced, taking them hunting and fishing,” Boudreaux says. “All of that is key to educating people.”
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