Students help restore coastline over spring break

For 21 Viterbo students, spring break consisted of trudging through marsh water, harvesting spartina plants, planting on dredge for coastal restoration, and helping build homes.

Viterbo Campus Ministry sponsored the 2010 spring break service trip to Galliano, La. Pat Andera, Viterbo campus minister, told Lumen, “It is one thing to learn from college professors. It’s a completely other life experience to travel to a new state and get your hands dirty while serving.”

After over 20 hours of travel to Louisiana, students got comfortable at Golden Meadows Plant Facility where they were housed for the week. The group started the week working with the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP), committed to restoring and preserving the estuary system of Louisiana.

“Louisiana’s coastline has been slowly disappearing,” said Mel Landry, public involvement coordinator of BTNEP. Since 1930, an area the size of Delaware has been washed away from erosion due to powerful tropical storms.

Kelsey Lauer, senior nursing major from Burnsville, Minn., enjoyed the unconventional service work, used to serving people. “We were servicing the planet by helping restore the coastline for generations to come,” Lauer said.

To do their part to help restore the coastline, Viterbo students helped harvest spartina plants from the Golden Meadows facility. Students walked around in water just below their knees while their feet sank into the mud as they pulled the plants from the ground.
Andy Christopherson, junior accounting major from Unity, Wis., described the pond as “slippery, slimy, goopy, and wet.”

“It was funny to see if people could stay up,” Christopherson said. Sharing jokes and singing as they worked, the students harvested over 7,000 Spartina plants.
The spartina plants were then transported to Port Fourchon Maritime Ridge, where the plants were planted in a newly pumped body of sediment had been placed for coastal restoration.
 

The spartina plants grow quickly, and have a strong, deep root system that holds together the sediment during storms and rough water, helping to prevent erosion and protect the main lands, Landry said.

Tori Pohl, junior biopsychology major from Menomonee Falls, Wis., was impressed with the amount of work the group accomplished. “It was exciting to look up and down the shoreline to see the plants we planted and imagine what the marsh would look like once everything grows,” Pohl said.

Mandy Jo Mlsna, a freshmen nursing major from Spencer, Wis., had her first experience working with the environment. “It was great doing service for the environment,” Mlsna said. “We cannot see the direct impact of our work, but we know we are making a difference. In the long run, we don’t know who is being affected by the service we did.”

The students ended the day with a quick swim in the ocean after working beside it all day. For Jackie Lutes, junior nursing major from Benton, Wis., it was the first time she had seen the ocean. Lutes was awed by the beauty and wide-openness of the ocean. “It was fun to splash around,” Lutes said after swimming in the ocean. “It was cold, but it lifted everyone’s spirits after the hard work.”

The group also spent two days helping Nolan Matherne in Chavin, La., work on his house and his mother-in-laws house. Students helped install insulation and vinyl siding around the homes.

Vince Scott, freshmen biopsychology from Rossville, Ind., helped install vinyl siding around the house. Scott was determined to finish the entire house, and after working two days, was thrilled to watch Matherne’s appreciation that they had completed.

“Nolan was shocked we’d finished and I’ll never forget the smile on his face,” Scott said. “It feels great to know you have done something to help someone else. I couldn’t have planned a better spring break.”

To treat themselves after the service they had done, the group spent a day in New Orleans, visiting the French Market, and Bourbon Street, listening to street performers and enjoying seafood.

The group was surprised by the hospitality shown to them by the St. Joseph Church in Galliano, La. The church heard about the service they were doing and decided to make a shrimp gumbo with crab lunch for the group.

Ashley Misch, sophomore nursing major from Whitehall, Wis., said, “It felt great to know people who didn’t even know us were willing to open their hearts and church to share with us.”
 

Andera enjoyed watching the students grow and step outside of their comfort zones throughout the week. “Each student brought different strengths to the group and we turned into a family for the week,” Andera said.

As Amy Birschbach, junior nursing major from Menomonee Falls, Wis., said, “In giving, you receive.”