Links/Info

Bob Thomas holds the Loyola Distinguished Scholar Chair in Environmental Communication, and is Professor of Communication & Design & Director, Center for Environmental Communication, Department of Strategic Communication, Loyola University New Orleans. He also teaches in Loyola’s Biological Sciences and Environment Program.

Bob earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana Lafayette), his graduate degrees are from Texas A&M University, and he was a Post-doctoral Fellow at L.S.U. Medical Center. He taught informal environmental courses focused on nature center education and administration at Texas A&M and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans, L.S.U., and Tulane University.

Before being a professor at Loyola, Bob served for 16 years as founding Director of the Louisiana Nature Center. He worked with a team of Louisiana nature lovers to found of the Louisiana Master Naturalist program One of Bob’s passions is writing about the wonders of nature and explaining how care for natural history has positive impacts on citizens lives, especially their economics and culture.

Brackish Artist Collective:

Brackish is an opportunity for artists to explore our complex and disconnected relationship with water in Southeast Louisiana. Each year, this program takes a new cohort of artists through a diverse curriculum centered around infrastructure, local government, and history. We aim to create a more informed creative sector that will act as conduits of climate resilience and hope for Louisiana residents.

A’olean Broomfield:

A'oleon is a musician that uses beautiful interpretations of the New Orleans jazz idiom as an homage to her hometown and Americana music as a form of self expression. In 2005, New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. While displaced in New Iberia, Louisiana A'oleon received her first guitar for Christmas. In 2010, the self taught guitarist moved back to New Orleans and began performing. Now Ms. Broomfield is a versatile musician that is influenced by a myriad of genres. A’oleon is a popular busker on royal street. The New Orleans native is outspoken about the misandry that plagues buskers due to the ire of citizens that dislike this tradition.

Grayhawk Perkins:

Grayhawk may be best described as a 21st Century Renaissance Man. His talents and professional accomplishments are almost too numerous to list, having been recognized by agencies such as the Smithsonian Institution, Walt Disney World, and the Louisiana Governor’s Office for artistic endeavors over the past 25 years,” reads a statement from the United Houma Nation. “Many define him as a living treasure of Louisiana. Grayhawk is an artist whose work reflects a unique viewpoint, a blending of the familiar and the imaginative. He carves wood, shapes stone, and paints in a style that students can relate to and emulate. He says his students inspire him to new heights of creativity. Grayhawk loves whimsy, loves to laugh, and envisions a world where stories can come to life.

Pointe-au-Chien Tribe:

We are a proud and resilient people who continue to occupy the territory of our ancestors. As indigenous peoples of the Terrebonne Basin, the fastest eroding area in the United States, we are at a crossroads of unprecedented change to the natural environment and adaptation to maintain our unique tribal cultural heritage. We hope that this website helps you learn more about us. We invite you to support us in our efforts to protect our sacred sites and traditional territory, to maintain our culture and traditions, including our Indian French language, and to support our efforts to obtain federal recognition from the United States government.

Cherie Matherne:

Cultural Heritage & Resiliency Coordinator Cherie Matherne was born and raised in Pointe-au-Chien where she still lives today with her husband, their three children, and 2 fur babies. Included in her duties, Cherie works closely with external partners to mitigate and develop projects centered around combating the severe coastal erosion impacting the Tribal community. This close work has earned her a place on the CPRA Master Plan 2029 working group. She previously sat on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls taskforce under the John Bel Edwards administration. Cherie is also the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe's Election's Commissioner. In her spare time she enjoys painting and making indigenous beaded creations.

Christine Verdin:

I attended Nicholls State University where I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, Master’s Degree in Early Childhood, and certification in Administration/Supervision and Early Intervention. I taught Pre-K/K for 20 years and then spent 14 years as an Instructional Coach with the Terrebonne Parish School District. I retired in June of 2021, then returned to work as Executive Director at Ecole Pointe-au-Chien which opened August 2023. I look forward to the day when I can walk in the hallways of my childhood school to hear French spoken by students, faculty, and staff. A place where French was not allowed.I am a member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe which consists of approximately 800 members. I am active in our Tribal affairs and have been on the Council for many years and was the secretary for 5 years. I am a member and represent my tribe at NCAI, a National organization of Native American Indians. I am a member of several committees, but Culture Camp is my favorite. It’s an annual camp for 8-15 year old tribal members. We plan activities that immerse them in our culture including our history, language, plants, ancestors, beliefs, stories, etc.

Georgie Ferguson:

Dr. Georgie V. Ferguson is a member of the Pointe Au Chien Indian Tribe and serves as their Tribal Affairs Liaison. A clinical psychologist by training, she is an active voice in coastal and tribal resiliency research. Dr. Ferguson builds culturally-grounded partnerships with agencies to mitigate environmental threats to her community. Her advocacy extends globally, where she represents the Mississippi River Delta in international efforts to establish a UN Convention on the Conservation of River Deltas, ensuring Indigenous voices are central to the process.

Jade Bergeron:

My name is Jade Bergeron. I proudly work for the Pointe-au-Chien Indian tribe located on the southern coast of South Louisiana. I am the tribal member as well as the tribe’s Cultural Heritage and Resiliency Assistant Coordinator at the tribal office. I have the privilege of working and living in the community that plays a vital role in who I am today. I am passionate about our traditional practices as well as striving to persevere our native language. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my husband and our 2 children. I love to read and garden. I have degrees in both early childhood education and environmental science so what better place to

be then on the front lines of the coast with our tribal youth. What started out as a job for me has turned into so much more! This is a place where I’m surrounded by family. This job has opened so many doors for me and I’ve had so many opportunities to travel and make many new contacts and help people learn who we are and what we need as a tribal community.

paris cyan cian:

paris cian is a New Orleans Black girl playing and composing with devotion and impermanence. As a movement architect, scholar, and curator working with and through various interdisciplinary forms of performance art, cyan’s creative work mobilizes embodied memory and ecological play into a worldmaking practice. She is living with notions of Black girlhood, climate change, spatiality, hurricanes, and time. cian received her BFA/BA in Dance with a concentration in social justice, gender women’s studies from Hollins University (2018) and MFA in Choreography at Roehampton University, London, U.K (2021).