A River of Learning: MRDI 2025 Inspires Educators and Deepens Meraux Foundation’s Legacy

From July 8–11, 2025, the Meraux Foundation hosted this year’s Mississippi River Delta Institute (MRDI), presented in partnership with Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education (CGEE). The dynamic, hands-on professional development program brought together 22 educators from Louisiana and Minnesota to explore one of the nation’s most critical and complex ecosystems.

Participants ventured out on barges, airboats, and pontoons to study the Mississippi River, coastal restoration sites, and the surrounding watershed. They also explored the land along the river at the Meraux Foundation’s home base: Docville Farm. The educators conducted field investigations, tackled engineering challenges tied to water issues, worked with watershed and storm surge models,and learned how to integrate environmental science and citizen science into the classroom.

This year’s cohort included a particularly strong showing from St. Bernard Parish, with seven local educators in attendance. Some teach at Arlene Meraux Elementary, a school built on land donated by the Meraux Foundation. Two of those educators are paraprofessionals on the path to teacher certification through Reach to Teach, a Meraux-backed program designed to grow the region’s teacher pipeline. These educators benefitted from three programs funded by the Meraux Foundation: Arlene Meraux Elementary, Reach to Teach, and MRDI. This shows how the Meraux Foundation supports education in St. Bernard in many ways.

"MRDI is about more than science, it’s about stewardship,” said Blaise Pezold, Coastal and Environmental Program Manager at the Meraux Foundation. “By supporting teachers, we’re equipping the next generation to understand and protect the coast that defines our home.”

For the first time, the Meraux Foundation awarded official achievement certificates to MRDI graduates, complete with QR codes for other educators to find more online resources, to adopt storm drains through the adopt-a-drain program, and to sign up for future Rivers Institutes, extending the reach of the program well beyond the classroom.

Following MRDI, a smaller group of Louisiana educators, including two from St. Bernard and a representative from Common Ground Relief, traveled to Minnesota to participate in the Mississippi River Institute (MRI), a sister program hosted by CGEE and the Jeffers Foundation. Accompanied by several Meraux Foundation representatives and Jacqueline Richard of Nunez Community College, the group joined Minnesota educators to experience the river from Minneapolis and St. Paul, fostering collaboration across regions connected by the same waterway.

A decade ago, Meraux Foundation leaders attended CGEE’s Rivers Institute and saw its power firsthand. That experience sparked a lasting partnership, bringing CGEE’s proven model to St. Bernard Parish each summer and sending Louisiana teachers north to the river in Minnesota. 

With continued support from the Meraux Foundation, MRDI is growing its impact, empowering educators, inspiring students, and helping communities across the Mississippi River system prepare for the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.