Charles “Chip” Groat – People to Watch 2015

Experts were studying Louisiana’s erosion problems long before The Water Institute of the Gulf was created in 2012. But the institute, which will settle into a sparkling new downtown campus in a few years, is bringing those experts together and building upon their work, so that state and local officials can decide how to protect coastal communities based on the best science available.

President and CEO Charles Groat says their major theme for 2015 is diversifying the funding stream, which today flows almost exclusively from the state’s coastal restoration program.

New sources could be federal agencies, private foundations “and the working coast itself.” For example, an industry group might be willing to pay The Water Institute to study rising sea levels. The institute’s work, while benefiting the client, would be made available for the public’s benefit as well.

Groat says The Water Institute isn’t competing with Louisiana universities for grants. To the contrary, it’s partnering with them in hopes of attracting more money and tackling bigger projects than any single player could alone.

One day, the institute’s research may be applied all over the world. But for now, the focus is on its own backyard.

“We’re never going to put the coast back to the way it was,” Groat says. “[But] we can stabilize the coast and stop losing it.” thewaterinstitute.org

—D.J.

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