Louisiana Sea Grant Lunch & Learn

Tuesday, September 15, 12:00

Join Zoom Meeting:

Meeting ID: 930 1598 8634

Passcode: 565859

Dr. Simms earned her Ph.D. in geography from Louisiana State University in 2017. For several years after, she was the outreach and engagement coordinator for the Isle de Jean Charles Resettlement Program, playing a vital role in one of the nation’s most closely watched relocation efforts. In this capacity, she helped facilitate community meetings, conducted household interviews and practitioner surveys, organized design workshops and charrettes, and maintained in-person, regular communications with Island residents. Her work was instrumental in shaping a master plan and policies and procedures that were more responsive to the community’s needs than previous relocation assistance policies. While working for the state, she also published ethnographic articles on community-driven relocation.

As Laborde Chair, she worked on a book with the working title of Isle de Jean Charles is Not Dead: Stories from the Frontlines of the Nation’s First Climate-Induced Relocation. The narrative nonfiction book will center Island residents’ stories and experiences as they weigh the tradeoffs of leaving their ancestral homeland. In addition to the work on the book, Dr. Simms also conducted interviews with Louisiana Sea Grant extension agents and specialists to connect on-the-ground observations with the Isle de Jean Charles case study and broader adaptation and resilience research. By combining research, community science and accessible knowledge-sharing, the project was designed to enhance public understanding of relocation as a practical adaptation approach and help ensure that future relocation efforts are community-driven, historically and culturally sensitive, and promote resilience and sustainability.