River-Coastal Science and Engineering

Welcome to the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering (RCSE) at Tulane University. The RCSE is a unique educational enterprise in the US focusing on the world’s river, deltaic and coastal systems using the combined science and engineering approach pioneered by the Tulane's School of Science and Engineering (SSE).  We provide certificate programs and unique undergraduate and graduate courses of study. The RCSE draws heavily upon the deep expertise of faculty and staff within the department as well as partners within the SSE and in Tulane’s other schools and research units like the Bywater Institute. 

RCSE's is committed to educating a new breed of scientists, engineers, planners and decision-makers to address the complex, interdisciplinary problems in river and coastal systems associated with changing climate, sea level rise, and the human overprints of the natural landscape. These issues stand at the nexus of water management, food and energy production, sustainability of burgeoning coastal populations, and an emergent need for ecosystem restoration on a massive scale. 

RCSE will fill an important role in the workforce and economic development in our region. The department will contribute to a needed critical mass of engineers and scientists at Tulane, in Louisiana, in the Gulf region, and globally, conducting basic and applied research to provide solutions that increase the resilience and sustainability of river and coastal ecosystems, communities, and infrastructure. 

As the Tulane SSE's newest department, the RCSE has evolved rapidly, and our progress is marked by a number of key milestones to date.

July 2017 – The Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering is founded. Professor Mead Allison of the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences is recruited to serve as the founding chair of the new department. 

November 2017 - A blue-ribbon panel of Tulane faculty, academics from other universities, government and corporate engineers, and scientists from across the US meets to develop a strategic plan for RCSE. This plan is approved by Tulane's provost in June 2018.

January 2018 – A cooperative agreement is signed between Tulane RCSE with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) with the idea of developing joint educational initiatives. The joint RCSE-USACE Graduate Certificate in River Science and Engineering begins in Spring 2018 semester when the first class is taught, stressing the “river” elements of the RCSE department. This revolutionary “hybrid” non-residence program is the first offered in the School of Science and Engineering.

May 2019 - The joint RCSE-USACE Graduate Certificate in River Science and Engineering is officially accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

December 2020 – First graduate certificate granted by RCSE in River Science and Engineering to Autumn Murray (M.S. 2021 and presently a civilian employee of the US Army Corps of Engineers).

January 2022 – Two new faculty members (Annalisa Molini and Soenke Dangendorf) join Mead Allison, Ehab Meselhe, and John Sabo in RCSE along with adjunct professors, primarily present or retired government scientists and engineers, to increase the department's offerings.

January 2023 – Total student enrollment in the RCSE Graduate Certificate in River Science and Engineering reaches a cumulative student enrollment of 323 individual class registrants, including 173 non-residential student/classes.

March 2023 – RCSE graduate programs (Ph.D., resident and non-resident M.S.) are officially accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  Existing graduate students in the department temporarily resident in other programs transition into the accredited RCSE degree programs in Summer 2023.

March 2023 – SSE and the Tulane Provost officially approve the Minor in Civil Engineering - Water and Environment (CEWE).  Students begin to pursue this program in the Fall 2023 semester.

July 2024 – Professor Ehab Meselhe, Charlotte Beyer Hubbell Endowed Chair, becomes the new department head.

Summer 2024 – RCSE begins offering classes in a dual Master's program in Landscape Architecture and Engineering developed in partnership with the Tulane School of Architecture.

Spring 2025 – The RCSE regular faculty rises to 7 tenure-track and one professor of practice with the addition of Professors Matt Czapiga, Ibrahim Demir, and Wayne Wagner.

May 2025 – The Tulane School of Science and Engineering, the Tulane Provost, and Tulane Board approve RCSE’s undergraduate major to be called a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) in Civil Engineering-Water and Environment (CEWE).  The major will officially begin matriculating students in Fall 2026.