The Water Campus

Unlike other States, Louisiana is more than just a swatch of square miles marked on a map by unseen lines. Our home is best understood as a dynamic meeting of land and water, defined more by its constantly changing coastline than by any arbitrary borders. From the marshy merger of sea and shore comes 70% of the nation’s harvest of oysters and other seafood. The Mississippi River, which formed much of Louisiana, is the spine of commerce connecting us with America between the Rockies and the Appalachians. Water from the Mississippi is pumped into the industries that line its banks for manufacturing products that, in turn, are shipped out over the same river waters to mar- kets around the world. TheWater Campus is aworld-class collaborative research campus devoted to the study of coastal restoration and sustainability. Developing over the next decade, The Water Campus will rise on 35 acres along the Mississippi River, adjacent to downtown Baton Rouge. In that time, the number of researchers and support staff employed at the facility will expand to over 4,000. More than 1.6 million square feet of labs, research facilities and commercial space will enable them to carry out their vital work in a collaborative environment – studying coastal threats, formulating theories, exchanging ideas, and combining forces to arrive at innovative solutions that might never be possible otherwise. More than $125million has been committed by partners, including the State of Louisiana, to develop the initial phase of what will be an international destination for leading minds in science, engineering and other specialties. Ultimately, The Water Campus will attract thousands of people, all working together in an effort to understand and bettermanage the complex relationship betweenwater, land and people around the world. THE WATER CAMPUS TheWater Campus is home to The Louisiana Cyber Coordination Center (LC3). Cybersecurity professionals from the Louisiana National Guard will conduct cyber missions alongside peers from LSU’s applied research affiliate, and a private defense contractor. The center will promote a safer cyber community in Louisiana through information sharing, training and partnering among federal and state agencies, academia and industry experts. Once fully operational, the Water Campus site will play a key role in responding to civilian cyberattacks upon schools and government institutions, as well as private workplaces.