ep. 12: The Water Institute of The Gulf; Global Leadership for Empowering Resilient Coastal Communities
The Water Institute Methodology (click to learn more)
In this episode, we sit down with Beaux Jones, a regional point of reference and visionary leader on the front lines of developing the complex mix of policy and engineering solutions that is required to realize long-term community resilience along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. As an environmental law expert and intrepid champion of cutting edge coastal engineering solution sets, he has become a key facilitator reconciling complex state and federal regulatory frameworks with the critical need for innovative marine infrastructure planning and engineering solutions that are integral to preparing our working coast for the ongoing and inevitable impacts of coastal land loss and associated marine habitat disruption. Recently selected to be part of the prestigious ‘Committee of 100 for Economic Development’ in Louisiana, Beaux’s valued guidance and vision is helping to empower organizations, community leaders, and citizens across multiple sectors at a regional, national, and international scale. With his work (and that of his outstanding team) at The Water Institute, Beaux is laying the foundations for Louisiana’s long term global leadership and positioning as a key purveyor of high value products and services for at-risk coastal communities around the world that are already facing increasing economic, engineering, and socio-cultural challenges from the ravages of runaway climate change.
Beaux Jones
Acting President and CEO for The Water Institute
Beaux Jones is the Acting President and CEO for The Water Institute. Prior to joining The Water Institute, Jones served as the environmental section chief for the Louisiana Department of Justice, where he represented the State of Louisiana and its agencies in a wide variety of matters ranging from environmental and coastal law to criminal and appellate law. He most recently worked as an environmental and coastal lawyer for the law firm Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer in New Orleans.
Jones has extensive experience representing agencies, companies, and organizations inside the courtroom and internally. He has argued cases at every level of state and federal court in Louisiana and has worked on several high-profile cases related to the Gulf Coast and Louisiana. He was on the BP spill litigation team with the Louisiana Attorney General.
Prior to becoming the Acting President and CEO, Jones was the General Counsel and Chief of Staff at The Water Institute and handled general legal matters for The Water Institute, such as contracts and immigration law. He also was a key member of the leadership team, merging the Institute’s ongoing work in science, engineering and resiliency with legal policy.
Jones earned his bachelor’s from Davidson College and his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU. He is active in a variety of community and environmental causes.
EPISODE REFERENCES AND LINKS:
The Water Institute (TWI) is an independent, non-profit, applied research institution advancing science and developing integrated methods to solve complex environmental and societal challenges. We believe in and strive for more resilient and equitable communities, sustainable environments, and thriving economies. TWI’s mission is focused on Resilient and Equitable Communities, Sustainable Environments, and Thriving Economies.
The 2022 State of Louisiana Climate Action Plan prepared by Governor John Bel Edwards’ Climate Initiative Task Force
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is established as the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection for Louisiana. See the CPRA 2023 Coastal Master Plan
The Governor of Louisiana’s Climate Initiatives Task Force is tasked to improve our resilience, sustain our coast, and help avoid the worst impacts of climate change, Governor John Bel Edwards established the Climate Initiatives Task Force to develop policies to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving up global temperatures, increasing sea level and other risks that threaten our health and safety, quality of life, economic growth, and vital habitats and ecosystems.
TWI’s Smart Port program is developing innovative hardware and software technologies, creating a deputized group of ship pilots to crowdsource realtime data combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict future bathymetric conditions of the lower Mississippi river bottom
TWI’s Northern Gulf of Mexico Blue Carbon Working Group brings together scientists, restoration practitioners, conservation leaders, land managers, policy experts, funders and other stakeholders to collaborate on research and development of blue carbon opportunities
Urban Water @ 10 Initiative is the multi-sector project celebrating a decade of the Greater New Orleans Area Urban Water Plane and looking ahead to the future
Waggonner and Ball is a cross-disciplinary design practice specializing in adaptation planning, resilient landscapes, institutional architecture, and historic preservation responsible for the post Hurricane Katrina Dutch Dialogues project for building regional climate resilience.
Voluntary Carbon Market; VERA, The Gold Standard, American Carbon Registry are independent third-party verification organizations supporting standardization of the voluntary carbon market
C100; The Committee of 100 for Louisiana Economic development is engaging business leadership in State public policy
Deltares is the Dutch independent knowledge institute dedicated to enabling ‘Delta Life’, working on innovative solutions in the fields of water and geology
RCoast is a Louisiana-based coastal data collection and interpretation startup company
Baton Rouge Area Foundation was created in 1964 with the one simple goal of helping philanthropists pursue their causes for bettering the lives of the people of South Louisiana.
The New Orleans Foundation provides civic leadership in local communities to inspire others and affect transformational change
The Water Ways Experimentation Station; is a United States Army Corps of Engineers research campus that hosts the headquarters of the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) for the purpose of developing flood control methods on the Mississippi River
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 streamlined and strengthened EPA's ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills. A trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so
RESTORE Act; Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act established the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund in the U.S. Treasury Department after the 2010 BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico
Coast 2050 Plan is a 1998 consensus-based, stakeholder-informed strategic plan for creating an enduring and sustainable Louisiana coast that received explicit support from all 20 coastal parishes.
The 2007 Coastal Master Plan established the foundation for our work, particularly its emphasis on improving protection from storm surge based flooding and creating a sustainable ecosystem.
2023 Master Plan; is the fourth plan developed by the state to achieve comprehensive coastal restoration and risk reduction goals. This 50 year / $50 billion dollar initiative directs the state’s coastal activities for investment in the design, implementation, and operation of large-scale restoration and risk reduction projects.
Energy Security Act accelerates permitting of all types of American energy and mineral infrastructure needed to achieve our security and climate objectives, without bypassing environmental laws or community input.
Smart Port Program is an Louisiana Economic Development (LED) grant-funded project that enables port operators to compile crowdsourced fleet depth sounder data, with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence, to share real-time bathymetric data, improving navigational efficiency, and safety.
10X (Ten Across) convenes community leaders in the southernmost portion of the U.S. along the interstate highway 10 corridor from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, to offer a compelling window on what lies ahead for the nation, offering diverse perspectives to better share information and to inspire proactive decision-making for resilience and sustainability.
Justin Ehrenwerth, former President and CEO of TWI, honored by The Water Institute staff after his passing.
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