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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

Emergency responders are the MSF members in this film, they have to continue serve millions of patients with the lack of medical supplies and the worse medical conditions over the place. They have to deal with the communication difficulties and the uncooperative patients with the lack of understanding to their own health. Furthermore, they have to make decision of which patient gets help and serve. As they concluded in the film with one of the discussion they had, there is no ideal environment (situation) to plan and perform an ideal operation (surgery) in such places (~49:00 – 51:00).

The data is visualized via a Dashboard for the Provider and Operational Analytics for the Organizations.

ž   Dashboard: Easily manage all of your patient communications with a concise dashboard for your provider profile, session scheduling and application settings. Also, view your patient’s profiles, session history and tracked progress.

ž   Operational Analytics: Cloud 9’s Personal Mental Health Record allows patients access from their mobile device that is always in reach. This creates exponentially more clinical data points to produce new recovery plans and accurate operational guidelines. Providers can then push adaptable, updated messages and reminders. Behavioral Health Provider & HR Optimization ensures high demand providers are accessed efficiently throughout care cycle, so “the right staff is with the right patient at the right time”. Managers easily leverage these new insights through Cloud 9’s Administrative Analytics.

The convention can be applying to a State that is possibly involving in nuclear activities or might  have any nuclear effects to the surroundings. Or the state that can notify the accidents that in  the other states.   Due to 22 September 2014, there are 119 parties (states) subject to entry into force with 69  states signed the convention (Convention – Latest Status). 

The translation for the system is managed by Transifex (not Ushahidi owned) with monthly plans for localised translation. In the case that the user not comfortable with English might be an issue to work with the system. Especially the reporters from the hard-reach areas with fewer educations. (They might deal with the problem of using technologies.)   

The bridge is developed by a team led by Dr. Ichiro Ario from Hiroshima University (Institute of Engineering), Japan.

Funded by Federal Government. e.g.

“ETA (Employment and Training Administration) invested approximately $13 million to turn Job Corps into a program where students gain industry-recognized credentials to meet the demands of the 21st century employer.” (Educational Program) [https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/agencies/osec/stratpl…]

They might deal with the workers that not fully covered by OSHA Law. Or even deal with the employers not following the laws.

Some scientific data/information or relevant organizations’ site can be added as captions within the film, so the audience can have reference to research after watching the film.