Students glean coastal restoration tips

Dinah Maygarden, research associate and science education program director at the University of New Orleans (UNO) Pontchartrain Institute for Environment Sciences, was a guest educator for an earth sciences class at St. Mary’s Dominican High School.

Her lesson plan included checking macro-invertebrates under the roots of a water hyacinth and building lines of defense for protection from hurricanes and storm surge. UNO’s coastal education program of hands-on, science activities increases awareness of issues of coastal land loss and restoration.


The UNO Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences was founded in 2001 for training and research, community education and technology transfer in coastal restoration and environmental sciences/engineering.



"It is so important for my earth sciences students to understand the geology of our home,” said Dominican teacher Joann Haydel. "Louisiana’s wetlands are disappearing, and that directly affects all of us who live in southeast Louisiana. The students loved the hands-on approach to learning about Louisiana’s wetlands.”