The Gulf Coast
Institute Itinerary

(Note: This Draft Version of our itinerary will be updated and expanded upon soon. This will give you an idea of where we’ll be and what we’ll be talking about, but stay tuned for speaker names and more - details subject to change!)

March 15 - 21, 2020

Louisiana and Texas

Sunday – March 15th

Location: New Orleans

Events/excursions: Opening Dinner

Topics:

• The fight to preserve land and livelihoods on a disappearing coast

Monday – March 16th

Location: New Orleans and Gulfport, MS

Events/excursions: Tour of Bonnet Carre spillway/Visit to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies

Topics: AM –

• Keeping New Orleans above water

• The far-reaching impacts of freshwater diversions

Tuesday – March 17th

Location: Galliano, LA and Grand Isle

Events/excursions: Coastal flyovers, boat ride to Queen Bess Island, tour of Oyster Research Lab

Topics:

• Louisiana’s coastal master plan

• Barrier island restoration and habitat conservation

• Louisiana’s fledgling oyster aquaculture industry

Wednesday – March 18th

Location: Port Fourchon and Montegut

Events/excursions: Tour of Port Fourchon, afternoon on the water with members of the Pointe-Au-Chein Indian Tribe

Topics:

• Oil and gas in the Gulf Coast

• A new boom in liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals

• Indigenous communities respond to rising seas and sinking wetlands

• Shrimp, oyster and crab fisheries

Thursday – March 19th

Location: Cocodrie, LA and Kaplan, LA

Events/excursions: Tour of LUMCON (the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium research station), field trip into the coastal wetland, visit to a crawfish/rice farm (and attendant crawfish boil)

Topics:

• Hypoxia and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone

• Impacts of the BP spill on coastal wetlands

• Crawfish farming, rice growing and its important role in waterfowl habitat

Friday, March 20th

Location: Houston and Galveston

Events/excursions: Tour of Sunnyside community’s proposed large-scale solar project, visit to Moody Gardens/Galveston Aquarium

Topics:

• Houston’s climate action plan

• Changing times (and portfolios) in the “energy capitol of the world”

• Plans to revitalize Houston’s oldest black community with the largest urban solar project in the U.S.

• The Gulf of Mexico’s unheralded coral reefs and efforts to protect them

Saturday, March 21st

Location: Galveston and Houston

Events/excursions: A visit to Galveston Bay, a “toxic tour” of Houston, closing dinner and highly emotional award ceremony

Topics:

• Sea level rise, storm surge and a contentious flood-prevention plan in Galveston

• The petrochemical industry’s legacy of environmental racism in Houston

• Community efforts to improve public health

• Growth of plastics manufacturing in petrochemical industry

• Challenges of telling environmental justice stories better

The Gulf Coast Institute was made possible in part by The McKnight Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and other foundations and individuals.

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