The Department of River-Coastal Sciences and Engineering is the newest addition to the School of Science and Engineering. Currently, SSE has four engineering departments, which is two more than 15 years ago. Over the past 20 years, engineering at Tulane University has faced challenges. The Department of River-Sciences and Engineering represents Tulane’s move into the future as a regional leader in scientific and engineering progress. 

In 2005, former Tulane President Scott Cowen announced a renewal plan, a path forward for Tulane in a post-Katrina New Orleans. The plan revealed that Tulane’s recovery costs in 2005 alone reached $200 million dollars. The following year held significant budget cuts to mitigate the costs of recovery.  

Three engineering departments from the former School of Engineering ended up on the cutting room floor. These were civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering and computer science. Only two departments remained: chemical engineering and biomedical engineering.  

The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering were restructured to become the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Science and Engineering, respectively. The elimination of three engineering departments, and the subsequent dismantling of the School of Engineering, was controversial.  

In a letter to the Board of Administrators, two 2007 School of Engineering graduates, William Clarkson and Justin Mikowski, claimed that eliminating these engineering programs and the School of Engineering altogether was detrimental to Tulane’s reputation as a “world-class university.” Furthermore, other opponents claimed it was “ill-timed” to cut the engineering programs when engineering failures largely contributed to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  

In November 2009, a federal judge ruled that the Army of Corps of Engineers were responsible for most of the flooding in New Orleans. 80% of New Orleans flood. These engineering failures resulted in the destruction of low-income and majority Black neighborhoods which were located at some of the lowest elevation points in the city. 

Opponents and proponents of the renewal plan alike wanted Tulane to be a part of rebuilding New Orleans.   

“We are determined to find opportunity in the face of adversity. Tulane will do more than just survive; we will thrive and continue our role as a beacon of learning and research for the region and nation, as well as a dynamic engine of growth and change for New Orleans and its citizens,” Cowen said in the renewal plan.  

Many, like Clarkson and Mikowski, believed this vision could be best realized through a robust engineering program.  

However, such a program was not possible in the face of mounting costs. Cowen explained that there was no money for these programs to grow under the already limited faculty. 

Initially, Nicolas Altiero, former dean of the School of Engineering and later the School of Science and Engineering, was vehemently against the decision to cut these programs. However, he accepted the changes and the restructuring after realizing the severity of the situation at hand.  

Altiero became the first dean of the School of Science and Engineering. Upon accepting the position, he said to Cowen: “You know if I take the job I’ll want to rebuild engineering.” 

In 2006, Altiero established the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics.  

The Department of Computer Science made its debut in 2014.  

In 2017, shortly before Altiero’s retirement, he co-created the Department of River-Coastal Sciences and Engineering.  

Slowly, under Altiero’s leadership, engineering at Tulane has made a comeback, culminating in this new department. The department started out offering a graduate certificate and has since evolved into a full-fledged graduate program. In fall 2024, the department introduced its new undergraduate minor: civil engineering – water resources and environmental.  

 It is unusual for a civil engineering program to be embedded within a larger river-coastal and/or coastal engineering program. Often, civil engineering is a broad department, and niche disciplines like water resources and the associated coastal engineering fall under its umbrella.  

However, Ehab Meselhe, professional engineer and department chair of the Department of River-Coastal Sciences and Engineering, explained that post-Katrina Tulane’s primary goal has been water — across disciplines, departments and schools.  

“It seemed a great opportunity to establish an engineering … department that focuses on water and not a traditional civil because there is already a lot of civil engineering around us. That’s Rice, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech … So, we wanted to have our own corner that we can establish a really…elite brand name — something [where] we can make a difference in the region and nationally as well,” Meselhe said.  

In a traditional civil program, students learn how to design structures, foundations, roadways and traffic systems, but Tulane’s new department will solely focus on civil engineering and its relation to water. Meselhe emphasized that while it is an engineering program and students will take the standard rigorous engineering courses, the department is interdisciplinary. The interdisciplinary nature of the department makes it accessible to students across schools and majors. 

In Meselhe’s The Gulf Coast in 2100 course, only one out of 48 students is from the School of Science and Engineering. There are students prepping for a future in environmental law; others come from the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; some are environmental studies majors from the School of Liberal Arts.  

Interdisciplinary collaboration is the future of problem-solving. Meselhe admits that many engineers will not agree with this approach. However, as a professional engineer with work experience, he has observed the barriers non-interdisciplinarity environments can create.  

“When I became a professional engineer, I took an oath that everything I do has to be the priority of the safety and welfare of the public and compliance with the engineering code. But, it was not part of my responsibility to make sure that what I present will be socially acceptable,” Meselhe said. “So that siloed way of thinking honestly got us into a lot of trouble when we presented large civil projects in the past.” 

 But while this may be practical on a professional level, there are criticisms against interdisciplinary teaching, despite its growing popularity at the undergraduate level. Notably, students only gain superficial understanding of two topics, as opposed to in-depth learning of a single topic.  

However, entering a course from the department, students will already have an acute understanding of whatever discipline they hail from — that individual depth translates into a unique understanding of the breadth the minor’s courses offer.  

 “I want to have somebody that knows the language of the engineer and the language of the social scientist and the language of the ecologist, not the same person,” Meselhe said. 

Strengthening collaboration skills and interdisciplinary communication is more important than ever, considering the threats facing Louisiana’s coastlines.  

“[Louisiana] is probably one of the most complicated systems I’ve ever worked on,” Meselhe said. Louisiana’s robust oil and gas industries exacerbate environmental damage. Around 85% of Louisiana’s coastlines is privately owned. Major ports on the Mississippi River mean frequent navigational activities. Compounded with sea level rise and subsidence, Louisiana’s coastlines become complex engineering projects.  

Tulane has the opportunity to become a part of the solution for some of the region’s and nation’s most pressing issues. Engineering is essential to Tulane’s ability to make an impact, which is why the Department of River-Coastal Sciences and Engineering is one of the university’s most important investments. An undergraduate major is in progress, and hopefully, it will soon be an option for students aspiring to make scientific advancements on the Gulf Coast. 

This is the inspired journey of Tulane engineering — from facing cutbacks and restructuring to an interdisciplinary approach with a new water-based goal. The Department of River-Coastal Science is the most recent progression of this journey, and it is poised to become a regional leader in coastal sciences and engineering.