Polly Burns and Kim Walsh

Burns’ and Walsh’s innovative teaching idea, “Marsh Engineering Project,” focuses on taking underserved middle school students kayaking to see state and federal marsh restoration sites near environmentally vulnerable and socio-economically distressed neighborhoods of New Orleans East. The students will be accompanied by their science teachers and the engineers who design and build the marsh projects. The goal is for students to understand the impacts humans have on wetlands and the role the marshes play in protecting their communities; to conduct scientific monitoring tests; and to explore building solutions to the challenging problems that threaten the New Orleans area. Working with the Wetland Protection and Restoration Authority and the Water Collaborative, students will also practice modeling these issues and potential solutions through hands-on environmental modeling sets and use these models to present what they learn to the greater community.