Coastal scientist, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium During the Covid-19 lockdown, while others baked sourdough bread, Alex Kolker was studying satellite images of the Mississippi River Delta. As an oceanographer, geologist, and climate scientist, he is interested in how the Louisiana coastline loses land, and also how it builds that land back. As he examined the images, Alex noticed a channel connecting the Mississippi River to … Continue reading Alex Kolker
Kristian Bailey is a farmer, and he also considers himself a land steward and teacher. At Orais Hand Farm, located across the road from the Mississippi River, he is trying to move away from the idea of human dominion over nature. Instead, he is working in cooperation with it.
Kristian talks about farming with “tenderness”: recognizing that Southern land carries wounds (his own farm is on a former plantation site) and that part of his job is to help heal those wounds. Continue reading Kristian Bailey
Tania Aubid is an Anishinaabe woman involved in the Water Protector movement resisting the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota. “You know, they wanted their pristine lands, and then they pushed us all into the swamps. And now that the swamps have resources for them to exploit, they want to push us out over here too. Through the logging companies, through the pipelines, through the … Continue reading Tania Aubid
I spent last week in northern Minnesota with a camp of Water Protectors along the Mississippi River. The Indigenous, women-led movement is currently working to stop construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline. I went, specifically because I wanted to learn more. I went because I want to get better at hearing Indigenous voices. I went because I have heard the Water Protectors called radical, … Continue reading Water is Life
This one’s going to be raw and unpolished. What’s new, you might ask. As we pack up to leave southern Louisiana, my mind is full. It’s a complex region full of complex challenges. But like most things, these are not Louisiana’s problems. They belong to all of us. What follows is less journalism than it is reflection. It’s a Cliff Notes version of the science, … Continue reading Where the water meets the land
