This winter break I decided to get out of the comfort zone of my couch and bed and learn about environmental communica-tions. I signed up for a J-Term class that went to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to study the BP Oil Spill and my journey began. A group of 12 girls and one professor set out to document about the communication lessons learned from the worst environmental disasters the U.S. has seen. Instead of just hearing about the oil spill and its effects, I learned about the disappearing coast of Louisiana, also known as America’s Wetlands.

Before this class I had heard about the vanishing coast in passing just as I had heard about Venice and the Maldives sinking, but I had no idea how quickly it was actually disappearing. According to Dr. Bob Thomas, director of Loyola’s Center for Environmental Communication, every 38 minutes Louisiana loses a football field of land. This shocked our entire class. I was here to study a recent disaster when there was even a huge issue in the background. I think that wha Louisiana needs the most help with is funding to save the wetlands because the Louisiana coast slowly vanishes, it becomes more susceptible to environmental disasters such as hurricanes.

I am not trying to downplay the oil spill or Katrina, but rather bring up an issue that has been overlooked. Our class went with the intention of documenting lessons learned from the oil spill and we learned a lot of information about the media coverage and many different communication efforts done post-disaster. We went to many meetings every day and came out with more knowledge than before. But after the class was over, I came to realize that the Louisianans are warriors of disasters including hurricanes and oil spills, but they need more allies than before to help them fight this battle of the vanishing coast.

This problem should not be in the shadow of Katrina and the oil spill any longer. We need to spread awareness and try to help restore the Louisiana coast. Many nonprofit groups such as Women of the Storm, the Gulf Restoration Network and the Ocean Conservancy’s Gulf Restoration Program are working on restoring the Louisiana coast. For more information on our experience through the Gulf Coast go to ninaflournoy.wordpress.com.

Tashika Varma is a sophomore CCPA major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].