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As a participant in the NOLA Anthropocene Campus, I have gained insights on how communities, stewards, and managers of ecosystems in New Orleans have rolled out forms of interspecies care vis-à-vis ongoing environmental changes, coastal erosion, climate catastrophes and their deeply present and current effects (i.e., the 2010 BP oil disaster). Whilst much analytical lens has been given to geospatial changes in the study of the Anthropocene, here, I focus on how relations to non-human beings, also threatened by the changing tides of NOLA’s waterscapes, can enrich our understanding of such global transformations.

After disasters like Katrina, urban floodwaters harbored many hidden perils in the form of microbes that cause disease. Pathogenic bacterial exposure occurred when wastewater treatment plants and underground sewage got flooded, thus affecting the microbial landscape of New Orleans and increasing the potential of public health risks throughout Southern Louisiana. But one need not wait for a disaster event like Katrina to face these perils. Quotidian activities like decades of human waste and sewage pollution have contaminated public beaches now filled with lurking microbes. Even street puddle waters, such as those found on Bourbon Street, contain unsanitary bacteria level from years of close human exploitation of horses and inadequate drainage in 100-year old thoroughfares. More recently, microbial ecologies have also changed in the Gulf of Mexico due to the harnessing of energy resources like petroleum. Lush habitats for countless species are more and more in danger sounding the bells of extinction for the imperiled southern wild.

Human-alteration has severely damaged the wetland marshes and swamps that would have protected New Orleans from drowning in the water surge that Hurricane Katrina brought from the Gulf of Mexico. The latter is something that lifelong residents (i.e., indigenous coastal groups) of the Mississippi River Mouth have been pointing to for a  long time. Over the past century, the river delta’s “natural” infrastructure has been altered by the leveeing of the Mississippi River. Consequently, much of the silt and sediments that would generally run south and deposit in the river mouth to refeed the delta get siphoned off earlier upstream by various irrigation systems.

While some actors see it as a futile effort, there have been many proposals to restore the Mississippi River Delta. For instance, the aerial planting of mangrove seeds has even been recommended to help protect the struggling marshes and Louisiana’s coastal region. Tierra Resources, a wetland’s restoration company, proposed that bombing Lousiana’s coast with mangrove seeds could save it. Mangrove root systems are especially useful in providing structures to trap sediments and provide habitats for countless species. Additionally, mangroves have been touted as highly efficient species in carbon sequestration, thus taking carbon dioxide out of the biosphere.

Species diffusion into new environments has been of great concern for the different lifeways these soggy localities sustain, whether human or non-human. Many so-called “invasive species” have been identified throughout the river delta by researchers at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research hosted by Tulane and Xavier University. Such species have disrupted local ecological relations and practices and have had profound economic effects. Some plants have even entirely blocked waterways in the swamps and estuaries where salt and freshwater mix. 

Louisiana’s humid subtropical climate, and the diverse ecosystems therein, also warrant attention in that they can incubate some of the world’s deadliest parasites and other microbes. Of particular concern would be some of today's Neglected Tropical Diseases (i.e., Chagas, Cysticercosis, Dengue fever, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Trachoma, Toxocariasis, and West Nile virus) often perceived as only affecting tropical regions of Latin America and revealing the enduring legacies of colonial health disparities.

How and when are seemingly quotidian events and upsets understood as not isolated but rather as produced in conjunction with other anthropocenics worldwide? What roles will interspecies relations and forms of care play as we cope with further anthropocenic agitation?

NOLA’s oldest tree, McDonogh Oak in City Park, 800 years old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK9YoGpng_c&t=0s

Other trees in New Orleans: https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-orleans-louisiana/trees

This program is offered on-campus at Columbia.  There are Five Core Courses in Narrative Medicine (22 points) and the Research Methodology course (4 points), which is required for all students who have not taken a graduate-level course in research methodology. 

The biggest stake holders in this are TEPCO, the Japanese Prime Minister, and the people of Japan are the largest stakeholders. There were many decisions made such as evacuation, releasing steam, pouring water, and leaving the fukushima fifty behind. Nobody was left without making a tough decision.

"Data collection: Gather submissions from anyone, anytime, anywhere"

"Data management: Manage and triage reports with filters and workflows"

"Data visualization: Map submissions and chart what happened"

"Automatic alerts: Receive alerts about changes and update"

"Enterprise systems:Let our team help you build and scale your deployment"

"The role of epidemiology in disaster response policy development" cites this epi study. This article addresses the role of epidemiology in informing policies after a disaster to mitigate ongoing exposures, provide care and compensation, and improve preparedness for future disasters. It uses our article to support the argument that epidemiology should be used for prep for disaster.

The chapters' main idea is supported by the use of statistics, historical analysis, and personal anecdotes of immigrants going through the system.

- The literature quotes figures from the Seine-Saint-Denis department. They have collected data that corresponds to the different time periods of ideals and legislation on the immigration policy.

- This discusses the difference in ideals between the time periods over time. It discusses the change from approximately 1974 where the assumption that immigrants were only wanted if they were able to be an active producing member of the workforce to the 90s where compassion was more prevalent.

- The use of the testimonial of the Senegalese man shows the effort put into individuals to use their health as a reason for immigration. As stated by the article, the man had many arguments to try and apply for immigration status, but he heavily relied on his health to be the deciding factor. 

Emily Goldmann, PhD, is a Reserach Professor at the NYU College of Global Public Health. She's an epidemioloigist and enjoys the study of the causes of mental health conditions. She's trying to spread the study of mental illness to a global scale. She studied at Columbia University and recieved her PhD from University of Michigan. 

Sandro Galea, MD, DPH, is a Dean at Boston University. His work focuses on causes of brain disorders and sociological effects on urban population's health.