New ASCE-COPRI Louisiana Chapter is established. There has been a need to establish a Louisiana Technical Group for Coastal Engineering Professionals. After meeting with Mr. Tom Chase (ASCE COPRI National Director), the ASCE Louisiana Section, and the Baton Rouge Branch, it was decided that this local chapter of ACSE Coast, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI) will be formed under the Louisiana Section and serve the entire State of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast Regions. It will be called ASCE-COPRI Louisiana Chapter or L.COPRI for short.

     Several coastal engineering professionals were invited to join the Executive Committee (ExComm) of this group and the first executive committee meeting will be held in November 2012 with Dr. Jon D. Risinger serving as Chairman. Dr. Risinger is a Lead Coastal Engineer with MWH Global in Baton Rouge, LA. The ExComm has about half the membership from Baton Rouge area and the other half from New Orleans area including representatives from the ASCE Acadiana and Shreveport Branches. The ExComm will meet monthly to plan the activities for coastal engineering professionals in the Gulf Coast Region.

     The disciplines on the ExComm will be from coastal, ocean, ports, and rivers and include representatives from private sector, local, state, and federal government agencies, and non-profit groups. The proposed ExComm & corresponding members will be introduced in the next quarterly newsletter and are highlighted below. ASCE’s National COPRI Section and the ASCE Louisiana Section have approved our chapter formation by signing an MOU and adopting by-laws for governance. This group is the third ASCE COPRI Chapter behind Los Angeles and Boston.

     The formation of L.COPRI also includes a Young Professionals Group and Student Chapters led by Marc Leblanc and Kyle Parker, respectively. The activities of this group will arrange seminars, workshops and other activities for benefit of the ASCE and COPRI members. One does not have to be an Engineer to join COPRI. These Institutes are formed for the benefit of ASCE and non-ASCE members to participate and interact with other coastal engineering professionals. The Chapter is currently planning its first quarterly seminar that will be announced in the upcoming months.

     Anyone interested in joining L.COPRI should contact Dr. Jon D. Risinger, Chairman, or visit the national ASCE COPRI website at www.asce.org/copri.

     To add your name to our mailing list and/or to become a corresponding member, please e-mail Ashly Adams at aadams@premierconcrete.com.

     Executive Committee & Corresponding Members Ashly Adams, Barbara Benson, Nedra Davis, Catherine Dunn, Brett Geesey, Stephanie Hanses, Tonja Koob, Dennis Lambert, Ehab Meselhe, David Minton, Tyler Ortego, Michael Pugh, Lucila Silva, Nina Reins, Jenni Schindler, Rudy Simoneaux, Paul Tschirkey, Clint Willson; with Marc LeBlanc and Kyle Parker representing the Young Professionals Group and LSU Student Chapter, respectively.