ORA Estuaries

08/27/2018

I'm proud to announce that ORA Technologies has been selected as a finalist for the MIT Solve Challenge. We're proposing to revolutionize coastal resilience by creating a community driven agricultural model for literally growing our infrastructure out of living oysters reefs. There's an online voting component, not sure exactly how it works at this point. If you'd like to see more oysters, give us a vote!

ORA Technologies is developing tools that empower coastal communities to literally grow coastal protection infrastructure.

05/28/2018

Can't wait to see everyone at !

Join me in learning more about coastal restoration in Coastal Louisiana, May 30th - June 1st.

05/14/2018

We're looking forward to learning about and contributing to the future of infrastructure in the Southeastern U.S. ORA's mission is to radically change the economics of coastal infrastructure so that coastal communities can flourish for generations to come.

As part of Infrastructure Week, National Maritime Month, and the New Orleans Tricentennial, we invite you to join us on the morning of May 17th at the Port of New Orleans for a free summit on the future of infrastructure in the Southeast. Light breakfast and coffee will be provided. Key speakers inc...

04/26/2018

Proud to represent eRotaryCoastal.org at this great AWF project unveiling.

03/18/2018

Mark your calendars for the 4th Annual Start Up St. Bernard live pitch event powered by The Meraux Foundation and SBEDF. Startup St. Bernard is a robust companion contest held in conjunction with New Orleans Entrepreneur Week ( ) The event features the five finalists pitching their businesse...

02/22/2018

Join us at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week as Propeller awards $15,000 in total start-up funding to businesses, nonprofits, and ideas improving urban water, coastal environment, or local water economy. Learn More. In Louisiana, water is our greatest asset and our greatest threat. In urban, coastal, an...

01/09/2018

Richard Condrey writing for the Restore the Misssissippi River Delta campaign: "They were there, billions of oysters on the Great Barrier Reef of the Americas (GRBA), along the southern coast of Louisiana – a dangerous impediment to navigation. Just three to four feet under the surface of the water, though visible when the winds blew from the north, with only narrow and intricate channels along a nearly continuous coast with passage only for pirogues.

They were there in 1492, when Columbus sailed into his New World. They bathed in the nutrient and oxygen-rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico, sweetened by subsurface and surface freshwater discharges of the Mississippi River Basin – continuing the efforts of uncounted generations of oysters to create and maintain a vast marine ecosystem, while protecting a majestic, growing delta...
..But they were gone in 1853, when Sands completed his survey for the Ship Shoal Lighthouse, likely the victim of human alterations in the subsurface and surface discharges of the Mississippi River Basin."

They were there, billions of oysters on the Great Barrier Reef of the Americas (GRBA), along the southern coast of Louisiana – a dangerous impediment to navigation. Just three to four feet under the surface of the water, though visible when the winds blew from the north, with only narrow and intri...

01/09/2018

From Natalie Peyronnin: "Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan consistently looks toward the past, when the Mississippi River flowed naturally, for ideas on how to restore the delta. Reconnecting the river to adjacent basins through sediment diversions – keystone restoration projects of the plan – will provide some benefits today, but also have long-term benefits that will be seen in future generations.

Oyster reef restoration can be carried out with the same long-term vision. Louisiana’s coastal waters have historically been the site of vast offshore oyster reefs, which played a vital role in the overall health and sustainability of Louisiana’s coastline – but planning efforts have consistently undervalued the benefits of oyster reef restoration. "

We call on planners, scientists and engineers in Louisiana, and beyond, to explore and research how investing in oyster reef restoration today can be a return on investment for future generations and help to establish a sustainable coast.

01/05/2018

According to the authors: "The global costs of protecting the coast with dikes are significant with annual investment and maintenance costs of US$ 12–71 billion in 2100, but much smaller than the global cost of avoided damages even without accounting for indirect costs of damage to regional production supply."

If the benefit to cost calculation works for levees, imagine what we can do with natural infrastructure such as expansive living reefs.

National Academy of Sciences

01/03/2018

Gulf Regional Planning Commission (GRPC) provides general planning support to Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.

12/18/2017

Maryland Announces Comprehensive Oyster Restoration Plan December 15, 2017Breton Bay and St. Mary’s River Selected for Large-Scale Restoration;State Pledges Investment in Manokin, Nanticoke and Severn Sanctuaries The Maryland Department of Natural Resources today announced a comprehensive plan on ...

11/07/2017

Looking forward to attending the 2017 BioChallenge Startup Challenge as a spectator. Best of luck to the competitors.

Innovation Louisiana 2017 offers a series of special events around life sciences entrepreneurship, research translation, and the myriad opportunities our fast-changing healthcare system offers to create meaningful transformation for patients and providers. The week provides several opportunities for...