Being from New Orleans, La., Elliott White Jr. has a clear understanding of the importance of healthy wetland ecosystems. He was 12 when Hurricane Katrina struck the Louisiana coast, which is home to vast wetlands. After the destructive storm, his family had to relocate to Galveston, Texas. “That was actually the driving force for me studying wetlands,” he says. “Since then, I have a more scientific reason. … Scientifically, wetlands are the ultimate ecosystem.” They let scientists like White investigate many scientific interests at once.
White now studies how climate change, sea level rise and human impacts affect coastal ecosystems and local communities. He has to think about how plants, soil, water and animals interact with each other. And he considers how humans help or hurt in these environments. “It’s [focusing] on environmental science in one hand and social sciences in the other hand — and doing so in a way that actually brings them together,” he says.
While working on his Ph.D. at the University of Florida, White studied...
English (US)