As we well know in Louisiana, sea-level rise is one of the world’s most critical climate concerns. It is an incredibly complex issue, involving the interplay between the earth, the oceans, the cryosphere, the human race and all other living species. No single scientific discipline can encompass the study of all of the factors at play: studying sea-level rise is inherently interdisciplinary.

Tulane is a leader in breaking down barriers between disciplines and creating collaborations. It’s what helps us attract faculty like Sönke Dangendorf, who joined Tulane in 2021 as the David and Jane Flowerree Assistant Professor in the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering.

A truly interdisciplinary scholar, Sönke started out as a civil engineer, then became interested in climate change issues while designing coastal structures. When he found that civil engineering was limited in its ability to analyze and understand the issues at hand, he began to incorporate oceanography into his work. When he wondered how to effectively illustrate the complex processes of sea-level rise for the general public, he collaborated with his wife, Lengxi Dangendorf, a visual artist, on a series of illustrations for the Waters Rising exhibit at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia.

Sönke’s boundary-breaking work recently earned him a $3.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense through which he will lead a team of engineers, oceanographers and geodesists from four universities. With their collective expertise, the team will provide sea-level information to determine the level of exposure faced by more than 2,000 military installations worldwide due to rising seas. The team’s work can be applied to civilian communities, as well. 

The research that Sönke and his peers are doing bridges directly to the work of Tulane’s ByWater Institute, which supports interdisciplinary collaboration within the university and engages with coastal and river basin communities — locally and globally — to help them thrive. 

The ByWater Institute also studies interrelated problems like water access and public health disparities while developing new strategies for sustaining healthy ecosystems and adapting to a changing environment. Meanwhile, at the Law School, the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy is partnering with decision-makers and stakeholders to ensure proper stewardship of water resources for the present and future. 

From the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering to the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South; from the Innovation Institute to the Center for Brain Health; and from the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to the ByWater Institute and beyond, Tulane continues to create and nurture the critical, fertile space between disciplines, where the answers to today’s complex problems can be found.