Building Community in Her Own Backyard: Introducing Alex Jiles
← Older postsBuilding Community in Her Own Backyard: Introducing Alex Jiles
Our Staff Spotlights blog series is dedicated to highlighting our talented team members who are helping advance restoration efforts for coastal Louisiana. This week we are spotlighting Alex Jiles, Senior Outreach Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation. Alex joined the Restore the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) family following her role as Volunteer Service Advisor at the University of New Orleans (UNO), serving in the AmeriCorps NCCC as a Team Leader/Corps Member based in Sacramento, California, and so much more! We …
From Louisiana’s Bayou to Williams College and Back: Introducing Chief Devon Parfait
Introducing Staff Spotlights! A new blog series dedicated to highlighting our talented team members who are helping advance restoration efforts for coastal Louisiana. This week we are spotlighting Devon Parfait, Coastal Resilience Analyst for Environmental Defense Fund. Devon joined the Restore the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) family after gaining a range of experience in everything from developing media and GIS projects with the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to conducting fieldwork on shoreline change in the Gulf Islands …
Losing Ground & Gaining Perspective
Flying over the Mississippi River Delta brought back a flood of family stories. My grandfather spent some of his childhood living on a houseboat near Port Eads. His father was a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Both men helped build the levees that I hope will soon host the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. Many hunting and fishing stories, theirs and mine, surfaced. As we flew down the river on the east bank, we could see the Caernarvon …
A Quick Jaunt from New Orleans Reveals the Opportunity to Restore Louisiana’s Coast
Early on a recent Monday morning, Bishop Thompson and I made our way down the east bank of the Mississippi River to hop on an airboat and learn about the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion. Having spent the prior weekend in meetings, it was a gift to enjoy a sunny morning out on the water. There are few places that rival the natural beauty of south Louisiana. I am reminded of that every time I take a drive outside of the city. …
Bayou St. John & Boiled Crawfish: Meet Our Outreach Coordinator
WELCOME TO OUR STAFF Q&A SERIES WHERE YOU CAN MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA! TODAY WE’RE CHATTING WITH Matt Phillips, outreach coordinator with the national wildlife federation AND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA. CLICK HERE TO MEeT MORE OF OUR TEAM. Hi, Matt! Tell us a little about what you do with Restore the Mississippi River Delta? I’m the coordinator for Restore the Mississippi River Delta’s outreach program, which means I make sure all members of our outreach …
Coloring a Better Coast
WELCOME TO OUR STAFF Q&A SERIES WHERE YOU CAN MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA! TODAY WE’RE CHATTING WITH Katie Gruzd, Campaign MANAGER WITH Environmental defense fund AND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA. CLICK HERE TO MEET MORE OF OUR TEAM. Hi Katie! Tell us a little about what you do with EDF and Restore the Mississippi River Delta? As Campaign Manager for Restore the Mississippi River Delta, I work on internal project management and organization. Many people don’t realize …
How a Saints Blogger Became Our Coast’s Digital Guru
WELCOME TO OUR STAFF Q&A SERIES WHERE YOU CAN MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA! TODAY WE’RE CHATTING WITH Ryan chauvin, Digital Marketing and Communication manager with national audubon society AND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA. CLICK HERE TO MEET MORE OF OUR TEAM. Hi, Ryan! Tell us a little about what you do with Audubon and Restore the Mississippi River Delta? Hi! I’m the Digital Marketing and Communication Manager for Restore the Mississippi River Delta. That’s a lot of …
Meet Our Staff: Q&A with Theryn Henkel
WELCOME TO OUR STAFF Q&A SERIES WHERE YOU CAN MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA! TODAY WE’RE CHATTING WITH Theryn Henkel, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COASTAL SUSTAINABILITY with the LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN FOUNDATION AND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA. CLICK HERE TO MEET MORE OF OUR TEAM. Tell us a little about what you do with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and Restore the Mississippi River Delta? At LPBF I am the Assistant DIrector of the Coastal Sustainability Program. I …
Meet Our Staff: Q&A with Jessie Ritter
WELCOME TO OUR STAFF Q&A SERIES WHERE YOU CAN MEET THE PEOPLE BEHIND RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA! TODAY WE’RE CHATTING WITH Jessie Ritter, Senior Policy Specialist for Gulf of mexico restoration with the national wildlife federation and RESTORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA. CLICK HERE TO MEET MORE OF OUR TEAM. Tell us a little about what you do with NWF and Restore the Mississippi River Delta? As chairperson for Restore the Mississippi River Delta’s policy committee, I help to coordinate and …
Meet Our Staff: Q&A with Corey Miller
Welcome to our staff Q&A series where you can meet the people behind Restore the Mississippi River Delta! Today we’re chatting with Corey Miller, the Community Engagement Manager with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Restore the Mississippi River Delta. Click here to meet more of our team. Hi Corey! Tell us a little about what you do with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Restore the Mississippi River Delta? I direct the outreach and engagement program for …
Meet Our Staff: Q&A with Devyani Kar
Welcome to our staff Q&A series where you can meet the people behind Restore the Mississippi River Delta! To kick off this series, we’re introducing our newest staff member, Devyani Kar. Click here to meet more of our team. Tell us a little about what you do with EDF and Restore the Mississippi River Delta? I am the coastal projects and programs manager for Environmental Defense Fund’s Mississippi River Delta restoration program where I lead research and analysis to …
Understanding Social Vulnerability in Your Community
The paradox at hand Over 2.3 million people live in the 20 parishes located in Louisiana’s Coastal Zone. According to the most recent National Coastal Population Report, a collaboration between the U.S. Census Bureau and NOAA, the rate of population increase in coastal Louisiana has doubled since 2010. Unfortunately, coastal land is disappearing as the population grows. A football field of wetlands disappears every 100 minutes (USGS). Restoration projects aim to preserve and rebuild the state’s beautiful wetlands, which provide …
Welcome to the New and Improved MississippiRiverDelta.org!
Over the last several months, we’ve been hard at work tidying and sprucing up our website to provide you with a more visual, engaging and clear resource to learn about the importance of the Mississippi River Delta and the work our organizations are doing to help restore it. In tackling the redesign, our goal was to showcase the current land loss crisis facing our state, the solutions available to address it and provide you with options for how you can …
Beyond the Basin: Reflections on my Upstream Upbringing
By Christina Rouse, Mississippi River Delta Restoration Projects Intern, Environmental Defense Fund Clang. A knot of rusted chains pulls shut the driveway gate, bringing it closed with a final smack against a worn fencepost. Just like that, my Sunday afternoon visit to our family farm in Clarksville, Missouri ends. After a quick trip home to Saint Louis, it’s time to catch a flight to Washington, D.C. for my internship. On top of a hill, our farmhouse is safe from flooding; …
Restoring the Wetlands as Part of our Sacred Duty and History
God of unchangeable power, when you fashioned the world the morning stars sang together and the host of heaven shouted for joy; open our eyes to the wonders of creation and teach us to use all things for good, to the honor of your glorious name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Source: A New Zealand Prayer Book, p. 569) Before our city and coastlands were flooded by Hurricane Katrina, there was a cry to rebuild wetlands that were disappearing. …