New Partnership with the Water Institute of the Gulf supports full-time internships

September 17, 2026

BY Evan Allbritton

This summer, the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment launched a new internship partnership with the Water Institute of the Gulf, an independent Louisiana non-profit and research organization. This initiative supports graduate students from the Landscape Architecture and Engineering program with educational and practical learning experiences and experiential opportunities, including service learning and internships.

The Water Institute, founded in 2011, offers a new approach to addressing water management studies and river-coastal research, and aims to "reduce the vulnerability of people, communities, ecosystems, and economies." The organization emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration among subject matter experts and external partners, stakeholders, and communities with a focus on research areas related to water management, such as coastal ecology, applied geosciences, human dimensions, and flood risk management. The Water Institute is led by Beaux Jones, adjunct lecturer in the Real Estate Development program at the School. As President and CEO of the Water Institute, Jones brings his expertise in law, policy, and science to the organization's work.

The partnership between the School and the Water Institute signifies not only their connected values, but also supports guaranteed full-time internships for graduate students in Landscape Architecture and Engineering. The first participant of this new internship program was Brian White, who just completed his summer internship with the Institute.

As an intern, White, who is pursuing a dual masters degree in Landscape Architecture and River–Coastal Science and Engineering, spent the summer assisting a senior engineer with drafting technical reports, editing, and ARC GIS map making. He noted that the Water Institute gave him other unique tasks related directly to his interests. For instance, having previously worked as a paralegal, the Institute had White apply his skills through conducting legal research regarding environmental policy at the state level. As White experienced, the internship program excels at allowing students to pursue their unique interests while doing real, impactful work across departments.

Through his various projects, White "was able to see different ways they work to assist local governments and tribes," and saw firsthand how employees and partners "work as an interdisciplinary team to address, illustrate, and plan potential solutions" for challenges impacting local communities. To get the most out of the intern program, White advises prospective participants to open up to exploring new possibilities and take assignments that they may not have expected: "You don't know where it might take you!"