“A Partnership of Opposite Coastlines” CC&E Teams Up with University of Plymouth

The College of the Coast & Environment is excited to announce a new partnership with the University of Plymouth, in southern England.

“We are very excited to enter into this partnership with the University of Plymouth. The university has outstanding faculty and facilities, and a long history of impactful and relevant research,” said CC&E Dean Clint Willson.  

“Many of the issues they are studying are very similar to what we are working on, including fisheries and habitat, protection of critical infrastructure, and the best ways to use sediment resources. In addition, this collaboration will help facilitate exchange of students and provide them with valuable experiences, both abroad and in a different type of coastal system,” he continued.

Professor Chris Fogwill, the executive dean of Science and Engineering at the University of Plymouth, also recognized the partnerhip's potential. "Our universities may be located thousands of miles apart, but they are in communities vulnerable to sea level rise and acutely aware of the impacts it could have across all aspects of society and the environment. They are also home to expertise working to better understand those impacts and identify potential solutions. The opportunity to unite that expertise makes this a very exciting collaboration with the potential to benefit our two like-minded universities, and the planet and its population as a whole,” he said.

CC&E Associate Dean of Research John White, who helped initiate the agreement, noted, “It’s a partnership of opposite coastlines – the flat marshes and muddy Mississippi that dominate the northern Gulf of Mexico  and the sheer cliffs and sandy beaches of  the southern UK - born out of a mutual desire to help solve the world’s coastal problems.”

“They aren’t thinking like we are, and we aren’t thinking like they are,” said White, who is also a professor in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences. “We’re on a very flat surface for our coastline while theirs is a vertical sharp edge in many places. But we have many of the same problems and through research and engagement, we can learn from each other.  In doing so, we can help provide more effective solutions for coastal areas around the globe.”

The agreement facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between researchers at the two locations.  These cross-Atlantic collaborations may come in the form of joint research grants, student exchanges and other programs. The driving idea is to integrate the many pillars of coastal resilience, including natural sciences, engineering, and design.

Willson and White, along with Tracy Birch of LSU’s Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio, traveled to Plymouth in October to sign an operation agreement. While there, they received a tour of the facilities and discussed LSU’s coastal research.

The operating agreement calls for mutual research collaboration, student exchanges and other activities.

“It would be an opportunity to exchange faculty and students, with all experiencing something different, and work on something different that will then expand their toolbox of coastal resilience expertise,” White said.