Dinner on the Docks

Next up in our Country Roads Supper Club series: Dinner on the Docks. Chef Jeffrey Hansell will present a sustainably-sourced Gulf seafood feast at the Center for Coastal and Deltaic Studies, itself part of The Water Campus—the new coastal research center taking shape on the banks of the Mississippi River. Meet the chef, and see the menu, HERE.

The Location

The Water Campus, developed in partnership with the Louisiana and East Baton Rouge Parish governments, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Louisiana universities, and nonprofits, promises to put Baton Rouge at the worldwide forefront of research in natural sciences addressing the complex interplay between human activities and coastal and riverine systems. The campus will, over two decades, host more than 4,000 scientists, engineers, and researchers, while also serving as a center for education on related issues. Among the Water Campus’ most prominent organizations is the Center for River Studies, a collaboration between the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and LSU, intended to serve as a place for research, science, and communications to intersect.  The center’s most unusual and compelling asset is a scale model of the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana coast, which scientists can manipulate to simulate the effects of water rise, restoration projects, differences in silt flows, and other variables of both the natural world and human intervention. The water may be getting higher, but the research minds gathering at The Water Campus are poised to help Louisiana rise to the challenge.

As we sit down to dinner on April 20, we'll learn about:

Land and Water ...

Coastal erosion and land loss are common topics for news reports, but what is actually happening to our coast? Dr. Clint Willson, Director of the LSU Center for River Studies, will explain facts behind this source of increasing attention and concern. With special attention to topics of river hydrology, land subsidence, and relative sea level rise, along with other factors affecting the changing shape of Louisiana, Willson will help attendees understand just what’s happening to our beloved and vanishing coast. No problem can be solved until it is understood, and Willson’s talk promises to give his audience the grounding in these issues they’ll need to be involved and informed citizens—and to become part of the solution.  

[Read our conversation with Chef Jeffrey Hansell of Oxlot 9.]

People and Culture ...

For a look at the human (and animal) face of coastal conservation issues, Executive Director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center Jonathan Foret and his pet nutria, Beignet, will give a first-hand introduction to what is lost by the people who call this region home and how, even when land is lost, the culture that it engendered can endure. This look at the cultural side of conservation emphasizes what we risk through inaction on coastal land loss issues—without the influence of the lively cultures that have flourished in the wetlands, Louisiana will be diminished in ways far beyond the physical. (Plus, Foret will show the audience that, under controlled circumstances, a nutria can actually be very cute.)   

Future and Solutions ...

Creating a vision for the future of the Louisiana coast requires facing some hard truths: in fifty years, Louisiana will have a new map and a new economy. Camille Manning Broome of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX), Louisiana’s only planning non-profit, will speak to CPEX’s recent Rising Above summit. The conference focused on the opportunities inherent in the changes Louisiana expects to face and worked to create a vibrant vision for the future that carried forward the culture and values of coastal communities, incorporating a diverse economy and the acceptance that water is an asset to the state of Louisiana and not a threat. The summit envisioned an informed citizenry and a coast that serves as an international model for restoration, protection, adaptation, and research.

Join us at The Water Campus (1110 South River Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) for 6:30 pm to enjoy cocktail hour. Dinner begins at 7:30 pm. Tickets available on bontempstix.com for $150.

This article originally appeared in our April 2018 issue. Subscribe to our print magazine today.