On an unusually cold morning in September, tucked away in the outside courtyard of Highland Coffees, Ivor van Heerden recounted his experience working as a scientist in the lead-up to hurricane Katrina.
Van Heerden was the main scientist who ran storm models and suggested what the city of New Orleans would need to do to survive a Katrina caliber catastrophe. What followed was the story of a man begging for help that never came.
Restoring the coast
A native of South Africa, van Heerden dedicated his life to advocating for the protection of the coastal wetlands and educating the public about the consequences of coastal land l.
Van Heerden graduated from South Africa’s University of Natal, now University of KwaZulu-Natal, with a bachelor’s degree in geology, coastal geology and civil engineering in 1976. He then completed his master’s and doctorate degrees in marine sciences by 1983 at LSU…