Research

CEDS strives to bring scientists, engineers, designers, and planners together to develop a collaborative and comprehensive ecosystem design process, resulting in intentional change of landscape, infrastructure, and urban patterns to sustainably provide ecosystem services and address societal needs and values. Often places of conflict among stakeholders, regional landscapes such as river basins integrate human-environment interactions.  These coupled landscapes can be managed for mutual benefit, providing a common platform for scientists, engineers, architects, landscape architects, land-use planners, policymakers, and stakeholders to collaborate on desired outcomes in a systems context. CEDS approach with ecosystem design, suggests we are no longer “restoring” landscapes (nature), or protecting people from an external threat (again, nature) but are engaged in the creation of “novel or managed” ecosystems of which people are a part. Practitioners of ecosystem design fully acknowledge human agency and the ability to control nature; but instead aim to balance all components that make up the ecosystem for maximum long-term benefit. The design process (an iterative process of knowledge integration to produce actions aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones) provides a common ground for researchers and practitioners to implement ecological principles into decision making processes which will positively affect landscape change.

The LSU ACTIONS team is providing the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) a comprehensive study of landscape changes using dynamic computational landscape models that can simulate interactions among soil and morphology with water resources (coastal, surface, surficial groundwater) and ecosystem dynamics. Efforts will result in dynamic computational models for the coastal land margin that can predict storm surge, watershed hydrology and surficial groundwater interactions with soil and morphology.

Landscape-scale studies of warfare preparations can predict the ecological impacts of military training using truck, tank, and heavy-vehicle exercises that have long-term effects on soil compaction and altered flora.  This can predict impact assessments and also prepare troops for field conditions during warfare exercises. These conditions can change due to extreme weather events that alter soil and morphology conditions requiring new strategies. In coastal regions these changes to soil and morphology along with landscape attributes that change training and war conditions (including postwar conditions) are particularly vulnerable in the coastal flood transition zone where a majority of warfare activities occur.

LSU tools will predict landscape conditions that allow military planning to design adaptations for the three phases of warfare (preparations, war, postwar activities) under a set of coastal soil and morphological, and environmental settings.

The potential impacts of dynamic environmental conditions on military training and associated infrastructure are a growing challenge to our nation’s military readiness and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) stewardship of its natural resources for warfare. DoD lands in the United States and abroad include a large number of installations in coastal settings that are most vulnerable to dynamic environmental drivers (e.g., rising sea level, increased temperatures, extended periods of drought or flood conditions, extreme storm events [i.e., tropical cyclones, Nor’easters].

To better manage DoD lands and their infrastructure and natural resource assets, it is imperative that installation managers have accurate research findings to inform their management decisions and prepare for future contingencies necessitated by these dynamic environmental drivers. In addition, installations will be faced with managing the tradeoffs between warfare preparedness as ecosystem service dependencies change associated with alterations to how water resources interact with soil and morphology at the coastal land margin. To balance military training and testing needs and sustainable natural resources management, installation managers need easy-to-use decision-support tools based upon dynamic computation models of landscape dynamics to assist them in making often complex, ecosystem-based management decisions.

  • Task 1. Selecting and Monitoring Soil and Morphological Types Representative of Coastal Military Operations
  • Task 2. Dynamic Computational Models of Tides, Surge and Winter Storms that Support Military Operations
  • Task 3. Dynamic Computational Models of Ecogeomorphology and Ecosystem Dynamics that Support Military Operations
  • Task 4. Dynamic Computational Models of Watershed Hydrology, Channel Flow, and Surface Exchange that Support Military Operations
  • Task 5. Integrated Dynamic Computational Models for the Flood Transition Zone that Support Military Operations
  • Task 6. Dynamic Ecosystem Design for more Resilient Military Operations

  • Robert Twilley
  • Clint Willson
  • Chris Kees
  • Peter Bacopoulos
  • Andre Rovai
  • Navid Jafari
  • Celalettin Emre Ozdemir
  • Kory Konsoer
  • Shu Gao

DEEDS utilizes the science, technology, and tools produced in the parent project Anticipating Threats to Natural Systems (ACTIONS) with the goal of developing engineering practices that make use of ecosystem design solutions.  The primary objective is to build a more sustainable future for coastal terrains that directly support the resilience of military missions, operations, and land use. The focus of DEEDS efforts are (1) military operations that have been impacted by coastal hazards and (2) sites that are in the process of rebuilding using Engineering with Nature (EWN) approaches.  

LSU CEDS serves as an interdisciplinary coastal ecosystem design studio that is linked within and among LSU academic programs that include coastal science, engineering, architecture, social sciences, and economics, offering a comprehensive approach to solutions development. The Studio has prototyped and implemented ecosystem design approaches to incorporate ecosystem services into performance measures. The Mississippi River Delta and Gulf Coast region—both home to the Studio—represent ideal laboratories to test design approaches that can be applied against the Collaborative Ecosystem Design technical approach.

Proposed in DEEDS is the expansion of the analysis of natural and nature-based features (NNBF) in support of EWN, to coastal typologies and case studies in the Gulf of Mexico using the diversity of natural features that are unique to warm temperate / subtropical climates.  These NNBF vary from carbonate platforms, lagoons, estuaries, and the seventh largest delta in the world, that have been integrated into some of the largest coastal protection and restoration efforts in the United States. Work in CEDS includes studies in the large river delta estuaries and floodplains of the Mississippi River and barrier islands and bays with mangroves along the Gulf Coast.

The LSU Anticipating Threats to Natural Systems (ACTIONS) project funded by the Army is providing domain awareness of potential physical and chemical hazards in vulnerable natural terrestrial systems caused by flooding and coastal storm surges. The Collaborative Ecosystem Design technical approach of ACTIONS will be a tool in the Engineering with Nature® (EWN®) toolbox to inform military design strategies that incorporate ecosystem services (environmental, economic, social) to support mission resilience. Some of the terrains most susceptible to these challenges are coastal, and often co-located with military installations, megacities/urban zones, and industrial activities. DEEDS utilizes the science and technology produced in ACTIONS to develop engineering practices that make use of ecosystem design solutions, thus creating more sustainable future coastal terrains that directly support the resilience of military missions, operations, and land-use.

DEEDS embraces the Army’s EWN (Engineering With Nature) initiative within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and within the Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio at LSU. Military operations that have been impacted by coastal hazards and are in the process of rebuilding using EWN® approaches will be the focus of these continued efforts in DEEDS, such as Tyndall Air Force Base and other coastal zone bases impacted with more frequent flooding events. The collaboration proposed promotes innovative knowledge to improve national security, support military mission resilience, the resilience of communities around military installations, and economies of coastal states. Collaborative ecosystem designs will provide solutions in how alterations in soils, terrains, landscapes, and ecosystems affect military operations, personnel, and infrastructure on both short- and long-term time scales, including buildings, bridges, roads, and flood protection structures.

  • Task 1. Designs and renderings of nature-based solution (NBS) for infrastructure and operations will be catalogued based on coastal typologies of the Gulf of Mexico that can contribute to reducing flood risks and generating environmental co-benefits at military operations. The library of NBS designs and prototypes will provide information that can be used in decision tools and expert systems based on robust project history associated with flood protection and ecosystem restoration in the Gulf of Mexico region.
  • Task 2. Ecosystem designs of mangrove forests with traditional flood damage risk reduction assessments and co-benefits of blue carbon sequestration and water quality remediation.
  • Task 3. Ecosystem designs of diverted sediment placement with large river management operations enhance flood risk reduction and produce environmental co-benefits with wetland platform formation.
  • Task 4. Ecosystem designs of direct sediment placement to enhance flood risk reduction and environmental co-benefits with wetland platform formation.  
  • Task 5. Ecosystem designs of environmental levees in combination with sediment placement as synergy for flood risk reduction and environmental co-benefits
  • Task 6: Education and Outreach of NBS Designs: Student Training, Public Outreach and University Participation

  • Robert Twilley
  • Clint Willson
  • Chris Kees
  • Traci Birch
  • Carol Friedland
  • Peter Bacopoulos
  • Andre Rovai
  • Navid Jafari
  • Celalettin Emre Ozdemir
  • Kory Konsoer
  • Shu Gao
  • Fabiana Trinadade de Silva

Inland from the Coast is a three-year research project funded by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project takes a multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary approach to:

  • Modeling present and future environmental conditions
  • Community wellbeing research
  • Applied building, community, and landscape design for ongoing flood recovery and long-term resilience across the greater Baton Rouge inland-coastal region.

The project goal is to create a framework to restore and enhance community well-being in the face of extreme weather and climate change, and to support adaptation strategies for sustainable futures. Design practices will be implemented locally as the Baton Rouge region recovers from the devastating floods of 2016. They will also provide a development, policy, and design framework applicable to coupled inland-coastal regions across the Gulf Coast and beyond.

In August 2016, a low-pressure system dropped 22-31" of rain in two days across Louisiana's capital region. Resultant flooding took 13 lives and caused damage to an estimated 156,000 structures. The region was brought to a standstill due to multi-day closures of I-10 and I-12, leading to transportation and economic disruption across the Gulf Coast. Touted as a "one-in-1,000-year flood" this was the third such event in 2016 to hit the southeastern US, and one of nine since 2010 (NOAA NWS, 2016). Climate change predictions indicate these severe precipitation events are likely to increase in frequency and intensity in the future (Prein et al., 2016).

Risks to inland communities in south Louisiana compound ongoing threats to coastal areas from extremely shallow topography, sea-level rise, land loss, and increased tropical storm intensities. Louisiana has lost nearly 1,900 square miles of coastal wetlands and is currently experiencing a land loss rate of over 16 square miles annually. As sea levels rise and shorelines erode, there is a growing recognition that retreat from the coast is preferred or required given significant fiscal, infrastructural, and social constraints on coastal settlement (CPRA 2012, LA OCD, 2015). The increasing convergence of inland and coastal communities (through coastal erosion, sea-level rise, rural to urban migration, and other factors) is a phenomenon Louisiana is experiencing on an unparalleled scale, though the issue is not unique to the state. Following the storms of the last decade, many residents moved away from the sea to reduce their risk - only to be flooded repeatedly from rain events over inland watersheds. 

Inland from the Coast is a multi-disciplinary research endeavor that uses environmental conditions modeling and community wellbeing research to inform building, community, and landscape design for ongoing flood recovery and long-term resilience across the greater Baton Rouge inland-coastal region. This project recognizes that effective stormwater management acknowledges and complements connections at all scales, ie: block, neighborhood, city, parish, and region. The project links university researchers with professional architects, landscape architects, planners, policy-makers, and community members to:

  1. improve understanding of inland-coastal environmental conditions and vulnerabilities, 
  2. define current and future community health + wellbeing, and
  3. develop design and planning best practices for reducing risk and increasing regional adaptive capacity.

The project goal is to create a framework to restore and enhance community wellbeing in the face of extreme weather and climate change, and support adaptation strategies for sustainable futures. Climate change undermines the stability that communities have traditionally assumed existed. Projecting future environmental conditions, allowing communities to prioritize those elements of the community necessary for wellbeing, and applying both measures to improve the community response can vastly improve the future resilience of communities and the health of residents even as climate change brings greater risk. 

Principle investigators

  • Traci birch
  • Clint Wilson

Researchers

  • Jeff Carney
  • Katie Cherry
  • Craig Colten
  • Melissa Daigle
  • Scott Hagen
  • Brendan Harmon
  • Aimee Moles
  • Kim Mosby
  • Marla Nelson
  • Niki Pace
  • Nicholas Serrano
  • Rachelle Trahan
  • Robert Twilley
  • Jim Wilkins

Students

  • Alec Cowles
  • Adam Cox
  • Austin Guerin
  • Lindsey Henriques
  • Debbie La Rue, AICP
  • Dylan Roth

Baton Roots kids and volunteers walking thru garden

The Baton Roots master planning project led by LSU CEDS sought to:

  1. increase food production in an area of North Baton Rouge known as a food desert;
  2. create a welcoming outdoor space to positively impact health outcomes for the surrounding community; and
  3. reduce the impact of flooding through improved urban stormwater management ideas (since the area flooded in 2016).  The project was made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts through the Our Town grant program. LSU CEDS organized several university courses (representing civil and environmental engineering and urban planning) and design studios (in landscape architecture and architecture) to study the site, conduct research, and execute best practices within proposed design ideas at different scales.

Established a few years before the CEDS project was launched, Baton Roots was already off to a good start as Mitchell Provensal, Baton Roots Senior Program Coordinator, explained how planning could benefit the community farm: “We are excited to use the incredible work (referring to the published master plan)…to push our farming efforts forward, not for ourselves, but for the neighbors of the farm and larger community. We know how urban agriculture education and learning about food can bring people together, and we are so excited for these recommendations for Baton Roots to bring even more people into our program’s home and further our collective learning. Our vision is to help repair the food system and bring fresh food access to all residents of East Baton Rouge Parish. This…shows the path to completing this mission and we admire all the hard work, attention to detail, and dedication required to create this master plan. Thank you again for all involved and we will see you on the farm!”

The Baton Roots farm and public art program at BREC Howell Community Park touches the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people, resulting in tens of thousands of pounds of food distributed to members of the community and thousands of hours of healthy outdoor activities, particularly important amidst a global pandemic.

The Recreation and Park Commission (BREC) for the Parish of East Baton Rouge connects people to parks and nature in Greater Baton Rouge area.  The system includes 180+ parks representing a wide variety of facilities such as an award-winning zoo, a performing arts center, an arboretum, an observatory, a swamp nature center, an equestrian park, a botanical park, a water park, a botanical garden, and five golf courses.  Since 2004 BREC has constructed dog parks, an aquatics center, an ever-growing off-road greenway trails system, fishing ponds and procured two mobile recreation units to serve play deserts in the area BRED covers. Howell Park in North Baton Rouge is part of this network and through a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement BREC has provided land access for Baton Roots.

Taking a holistic approach to community health, Baton Roots at BREC Howell Park envisions a world where local people are deeply rooted to the food they consume. The Baton Roots community farm brings access to healthy foods, outdoor experiences, and agriculture education to an area burdened by poverty, low-performing schools, crime, and unemployment. Infusing public art with fresh food access, Baton Roots works to improve quality-of-life, public safety, and economic development through year-round agriculture, health, and arts programming. Baton Roots’ hands-in-the-dirt approach works with communities to bring fresh and healthy food, grown in a visually stimulating and eco-friendly environment.

  • Multiple community engagement opportunities to ensure the voices of local residents were heard
  • Master Plan Report, including detailed visualizations of key components of the aspirational Baton Roots Arts Farm
  • Architectural Plans for a Community Center at Howell Park (design studio taught by Kris Palagi)
  • Reports on Food Insecurity in Baton Rouge (Urban Planning Course taught by Dr. Traci Birch)

Research Team

Nicholas Serano, Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture at LSU, served as Primary Investigator and

Kris Palagi, Assistant Professor in Architecture at LSU, served as Co-PI. Louisiana State University faculty and students worked through several courses during the 2020-2021 academic year to guide them through design development. These included architecture students in ARCH 5001 and 7006, landscape architecture students in LA 3002 and 7041, and civil engineering students in CE 4260. Supporting faculty include Kathleen Bogaski, Nicholas Serrano, Tara Street, Soo Jo, Kris Palagi, and Clint Willson. The final content of this report was created by summer research assistants: Shade Winfrey, Adam Miller, Peyton Mahoney, Josh Crawford.  Mary Bergeron provided administrative support on the project.

Led by the LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio, many groups and individuals contributed to the overall success of the project:

  • BREC, including Superintendent Corey Wilson, Assistant Superintendent of Planning Reed Richard, Assistant Superintendent of Recreation Brandon Smith, Andrea Roberts, Angela Harms, Brett Wallace, Rhett Butler, and RaHarold Lawson
  • Baton Roots program leadership, including Mitchell Provensal and SK Groll
  • Baton Roots community partners: BREC, Healthy BR, Geaux Get Healthy, Southern University Ag Center, LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge Green, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, USDA, BCBS Louisiana Foundation, Humana Foundation, Wilson Foundation, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Aetna/CVS, Healthy Blue, Louisiana Healthcare Connections, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, Rotary Club, Build Baton Rouge, ExxonMobile, EBRPHA, the American Heart Association, Louisiana 4-H Foundation, Lynne Pisto, and Jennifer and Sean Reilly.
  • Faheem Majeed was the principal consulting artist on this project and was instrumental throughout the planning process.
  •  Summer 2021 interns Joshua Crawford, Peyton Mahoney, Adam Miller, Dylan Roth, and Shade Winfrey

LSU Center for River Studies Exhibition AreaLSU CEDS provided content development, visualization, and interior design services for development of the LSU Center for River Studies.  The site is located on the Baton Rouge Water Campus near the banks of the Mississippi River and houses one of the world's largest movable bed physical models - the Lower Mississippi River Physical Model. It also serves as a cooperative public learning center co-hosted with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). The center’s interactive exhibit space offers opportunities for guests of all ages to learn more about the history of the Mississippi River, Louisiana’s disappearing wetlands, and ongoing coastal restoration projects across the coast.

CEDS was awarded a 3-year contract to help make CPRA’s complex coastal restoration efforts easily understood by a variety of audiences, including the layperson. The purpose of the project stemmed from acknowledgement of the need to better communicate to stakeholders’ risks to Louisiana’s coast and the dramatic efforts CPRA is undertaking to safeguard the coast’s future. Visualizations include drawings, animations, diagrams, learning kiosks, publications, presentations, educational installations, and a 9,000-square foot exhibition space at the Water Campus in downtown Baton Rouge.  These visual materials enrich the communicative power of the CPRA Coastal Master Plan.

In October 2018 the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio was selected as a Rose Award recipient by Baton Rouge chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the Center for River Studies exhibition. Rose award winners were selected by an independent jury based on design excellence.

LSU CEDS provided interior design guidance, development of visualizations and kiosk content, and ideas for presenting complex ideas to a broad audience.  

To see examples of this work or to schedule a visit, go to: lsu.edu/river

  • Jeff Carney, Former Director, Coastal Sustainability Studio
  • Shelby Doyle
  • Jacob Mitchell
  • Matthew Dunn
  • Karen May
  • Jori Erdman, AIA, LEED AP
  • Robert Twilley, PhD
  • Clint Willson, PhD, PE
  • John R. White, PhD
  • Elizabeth Mossop
  • James Sullivan
  • Courtney Barr

LCRI Oct 2022 Governor and Elected Officals

The Louisiana Community Resilience Institute (LCRI) is a small, invitation-only, two-and-a-half-day workshop intended to offer elected officials increased capacity and a better understanding of the roles planning, design and hazard mitigation can play in developing flood recovery projects for funding. The workshop provides the opportunity to discuss and develop implementation strategies for approaching specific challenges that a community faces with the goal of building community resiliency.

Participation comes in three phases, starting with site visits prior to the workshop; then problem presentation and idea generation at the workshop; and finally turning ideas into projects, programs, and actions. The workshop is comprised of six to eight elected Louisiana officials (typically mayors, parish presidents, or police jury members), and six to eight nationally recognized design, mitigation, and community development professionals, who attend the facilitated closed-door sessions of the LCRI.

With expert guidance, the group analyzes challenges through the lens of resilient community design.

LCRI participation enables elected officials to return to communities with 1) a better understanding of the design and planning process, 2) substantially increased confidence in their ability to tackle complex issues, and 3) specific, defined solutions tailored to a community’s specific recovery and resilience needs. The end of the workshop also provides introductions to resources that can help a community’s project.

Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio Staff in Support of LCRI Elected Officials Workshop

  • Chris Kees, PhD, CEDS Executive Director 
  • Traci Birch, PhD, LCRI Primary Facilitator and CEDS Associate Director 
  • Mary Bergeron, CEDS Studio Manager 
  • Lindsey Osbon,CEDS Graduate Student, LSU School of Architecture
  • Spencer Miller, CEDS Graduate Student, LSU School of Landscape Architecture 

Louisiana Sea Grant Staff in Support of LCRI Elected Officials Workshop 

  • Niki Pace, CFM, JD, LLM, Sustainability Coordinator, Louisiana Sea Grant Law & Policy Program 
  • Melissa Daigle, JD, Research Associate and Resiliency Specialist, Louisiana Sea Grant Law & Policy Program

 Class of 2023 CEDS Summer Institute

When funding allows, the LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio hosts summer internships for undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent graduates.

Situated at the intersection of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, South Louisiana is one of the most complex and culturally rich environments in the nation; it is also one of the most vulnerable. The Mississippi River watershed includes 31 states and two Canadian provinces, draining over 40% of the United States. This vast area drains to the Louisiana coast, which is vulnerable to climate change, land subsidence, and other critical environmental issues.

Additionally, the region faces economic, infrastructural, and social challenges requiring multi-disciplinary collaborations to build a more sustainable future. The development of ecosystem designs that build regional economic and social values for the Mississippi Delta today will serve as models for what coastal and riverine communities around the world can expect in the future. By nature of its geology and geography, Louisiana is a living laboratory for how to utilize ecosystem design, innovative planning, and community collaboration for coastal sustainability.

In June and July of 2023—representing the most recent summer internship experience—twenty graduate and undergraduate students from around the world representing seven universities worked in the CEDS collaborative studio in Baton Rouge at the Water Campus.  They also conducted field research in South Louisiana and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Four teams of five each looked at sites along and near the Gulf of Mexico, conducting research and developing ecosystem design approaches to solve challenges associated with living and working in dynamic coastal landscapes. All project work was real-world site-specific, focused on integrated design thinking, and supporting the Engineering with Nature initiative within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Interns for the Class of 2023 CEDS Summer Institute Represented Several Universities on Four Interdisciplinary Teams 

Fahmida Akhter
LSU, Ph.D. Environmental Science

Katie Branuum
NCSU, Undergraduate student in Environmental Science

Joseph Brooks
LSU, Undergraduate Student in Landscape Architecture 

Georgia Dewitt
LSU, Master of Landscape Architecture

Kevin Enriquez
USFQ, Ecuador, Undergraduate Student in Architecture 

Annabel Gregg
NYU, MPA Public & Nonprofit Management & Policy

Clara Jimenez
LSU, Bachelor of Architecture

Casey Jones
UC Berkeley, Master of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

Mahsa Keyhani
Iowa State University, Master of Architecture

Zachary Laird
LSU, Master of Environmental Science

Lauryn Langley
LSU, Master of Landscape Architecture

Alexander R C. Lazard
UNO, Master of Planning and Urban Studies

Ella McIntire
UNO, Ph.D. Student in Urban Studies

Javier Zamora Mendoza
LSU, Master of Landscape Architecture

Shana Naderi
LSU, Master of Architecture

Aine O’nuanain
LSU, Bachelor of Coastal Science

Kashif Rustaman
LSU, Ph.D. Student in Anthropology

Sumaiya Tul Siddique
LSU, Ph.D. Student in Geography

Patrice Uwizeyimana
LSU, Master of Architecture

Josey Weaver
Iowa State University, Undergraduate Student in Landscape Architecture

The LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio works directly with communities and organizations to provide planning and design ideas at a variety of scales and contexts--from a single city block to an entire watershed.

Studio efforts help strengthen community resilience and encourage communities to plan and design for sustainable futures. The studio frequently works directly with community leaders and stakeholders but can also refer interested parties and their possible projects to other university or governmental resources, such as academic courses or design studios. To explore options for community project support, please contact Mary Bergeron at [email protected].

The multidisciplinary nature of the Studio's work positions new project ideas to receive professional guidance from a wide variety of Studio-affilated research and teaching faculty, frequently certified in their fields of study, and seasoned by decades of experience.  These experts come from fields as varied as design (architecture and landscape architecture), planning, science, engineering, hydrological modeling, geography, anthropology, sociology, history, agriculture, construction management, political science and policy, and many other subject areas.  The Studio will convene relevant subject matter experts, as required by the specific nature of the project.

Mary Bergeron

Studio Manager
[email protected]