STEM Baton Rouge Fellows Dive Into Water Science at The Water Institute
BATON ROUGE, LA — September 24, 2026 — STEM Baton Rouge | STEM Global Action Fellows spent Saturday, September 19, at The Water Institute’s Baton Rouge headquarters, where they worked side by side with the Institute’s scientists, engineers, and researchers, the people who study Louisiana’s rivers, wetlands, and coast every day, for a morning of hands-on research. Completing activities such as pulling DNA out of cells, looking at tiny coastal creatures under a microscope, and spotting birds along the Mississippi River at the Water Campus The goal was simple: take students out of the classroom and put them where real science happens.
Fellows started by getting to know the Water Campus from above, studying maps and satellite images to figure out how scientists identify and track different habitats. Then they got their hands dirty. In small teams, they looked at the organisms that power coastal food webs, some collected during the Institute’s field research in the Upper Barataria Basin, and worked out how energy moves from the smallest creatures in the mud up to the fish and crabs many Louisiana families know well. Using frozen peas and household supplies, they extracted strands of DNA they could hold, and learned how scientists use environmental DNA, the genetic traces organisms leave in water, to find out what lives in a river or bayou without ever seeing it. Out on the batture along the river, binoculars in hand, they counted birds and talked about why these in-between spaces matter so much to wildlife.
By the end of the morning, the Fellows were looking at the landscape around them differently, and more than a few were picturing themselves doing this work one day.
Why This Partnership Matters
“Louisiana’s future is tied to water, and so is a huge share of the STEM careers that will shape this state,” said Dr. Calvin Mackie, CEO and Founder of STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action. “At The Water Institute, our Fellows didn’t just hear about science. They did it. They pulled DNA out of a cell, traced energy through a coastal food web, and cleaned up the waterways that sustain our communities. When young people stand next to working scientists and ask them how they got there, they start to see themselves in those roles. That is how we build the next generation of innovators who will protect and strengthen Louisiana. We’re grateful to The Water Institute for opening its doors and investing in our students.”
“Louisiana’s relationship with water will continue to define our communities, our economy, and our ecosystems, and we count on the next generation of scientists, engineers, and leaders ready to take on those challenges,” said Beaux Jones, President and CEO of The Water Institute. “Giving students the opportunity to work alongside our team and experience this science firsthand helps them see that these careers are within reach—and that they can play a meaningful role in shaping the future of the place they call home. We’re proud to partner with STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action to help create those pathways.”
Communities across Louisiana and the Gulf coast face growing risks from flooding, land loss, ecosystem decline, and climate uncertainty. Yet the students who will inherit these challenges rarely get to see the science behind them up close, and students of color remain underrepresented in the STEM fields working to solve them.
The partnership between STEM Baton Rouge and The Water Institute, an independent non-profit applied research organization, helps close that gap. The Institute brings world-class expertise in river, coastal, and environmental research. STEM Baton Rouge brings motivated young people who are ready to learn. Together, they give Fellows a direct line to careers that are growing in Louisiana and a chance to build relationships with professionals who can mentor them along the way.
That same sense of shared responsibility carried into the Fellows’ final activity of the day. The students joined Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s Love Our Waterways, Louisiana’s first statewide waterway cleanup, which runs throughout September. The effort was launched in June by Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser and Keep Louisiana Beautiful at a news conference hosted by The Water Institute, and it calls on volunteers in every parish to help protect the state’s 14,400 miles of rivers, lakes, bayous, and shorelines.
The work matters. About 80 percent of the litter in Louisiana’s waters starts on land, washing from streets and ditches into bayous and rivers and, eventually, the Gulf. And because Louisiana sits at the mouth of the Mississippi River, it also receives litter from the 31 states in one of the largest watersheds in the world. With gloves, trash bags, and data sheets in hand, the Fellows cleaned up the Institute’s grounds, weighed and recorded what they collected, and learned how runoff from everyday places ends up in the water.
For the Fellows, it was a chance to connect the science they had practiced all morning to something they could do right away for their own community.
About the STEM Fellows Program
The STEM Fellows Program offers students with an aptitude for or interest in science, technology, engineering, and math free, hands-on mini-courses on real-world problems, along with college and career readiness courses and connections to peers and professionals. For more information about the STEM Fellows Program, visit stemnola.com/stem-fellows.
About STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action
Founded by Dr. Calvin Mackie, STEM NOLA is dedicated to exposing, engaging, and inspiring students in grades K-12 to the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Through hands-on programs and immersive learning experiences, STEM NOLA provides opportunities for students to build the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue careers in STEM fields. STEM Global Action, the nationwide expansion of STEM NOLA, aims to bring these experiences to communities across the U.S. and help develop a diverse and skilled workforce for the future. For more information, visit https://stemnola.com.
About The Water Institute
The Water Institute is driven by the mission to reduce the vulnerability of people, communities, ecosystems, and economies through transformative approaches to interconnected environmental and social challenges. As an independent, applied research organization, the Institute advances actionable research, technology, and planning to support science-informed decision making. The Institute serves as a thought partner, leveraging expertise in multiple disciplines and engaging across multiple sectors — government, private industry, academia, and communities. The Institute was founded in 2011 in the aftermath of devastating hurricanes and oil spills. Headquartered in Louisiana, the Institute draws on its roots in the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf Coast, where water is both a strength and a vulnerability, to tackle challenges wherever they are. The Water Institute envisions a future where all of humanity can adapt and thrive alongside nature in a changing world. Learn more at www.thewaterinstitute.org.
Media Contact:
Mia Augillard
Director of Communications
STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action
maugillard@stemnola.com