Coastal Consortium formed

Tulane has formed the Coastal Sustainability Representatives Consortium alongside LSU, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of New Orleans.

Representatives from each university will make up the consortium, which will make it easier for the state to access coastal research information. It will be made up of representatives from each university, the state and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The consortium will centralize university coastal research, as government agencies will no longer have to contact each university individually for specific studies or data.

Though the universities will work with the government in other ways about this issue, this consortium offers a direct exchange of information.

“It’s a dialogue between the state and the universities — a partnership,” said John McLachlan, director of the Tulane/Xavier center for bioenvironmental research.  “If they need specific information, they can come to us and we can work together to find the answer.”

 The university representatives will vary in specialties and expertise, ranging from legal studies to coastal science to community planning.

“There’s this misinterpretation that coastal restoration is all science engineering, but it’s really not it at all,” McLachlan said. “It involves all sorts of disciplines, from property rights and environmental law to community planning.”

If all of the research is compiled in one place, the state will be able to make more informed decisions, said Bob Stewart, former vice president of research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

“I’ve traveled all over the world, and I’ve never seen an issue as important as coastal restoration,” Stewart said. “The need to restore the coasts is paramount.”

Stewart said he thinks that Tulane’s involvement in the consortium is imperative.

“Tulane brings a lot of talent to the table,” he said. “From its community planning initiatives to its law school, medical school, research labs, to even its outstanding department of sociology, Tulane brings in great resources.”

Stewart said he believes that the cooperation among the four schools will help them work on coastal sustainability more effectively.

Tulane vice president of government affairs Sharon Courtney said she agrees.

“Instead of competing against each other, these universities are working together for a bigger cause,” Courtney said. “There is strength in numbers.”

Courtney said she hopes that because these Louisiana universities are working together, they will reach their goal of restoring Louisiana’s shoreline faster and more effectively.

“These schools have diverse strengths to bring together, with lots of capacity, and we can solve these issues,” Courtney said.

Tulane Public Relations Director Mike Strecker said he believes that because Louisiana is home to Tulane, its coasts should hold a special place for the university.

“Given where we live, especially post-Katrina, Tulane’s defining role has become rebuilding our community and our state,” Strecker said.