LSU FLOOD Project Connects 1927 Great Mississippi Flood to Education and Resilience

BATON ROUGE, LA - As the 100th anniversary of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 approaches, LSU researchers are developing new ways for students and teachers to examine the history of flooding and to prepare communities for future environmental challenges.

The LSU-led Flood Learning for Overcoming Ongoing Disasters, or FLOOD, initiative has received $79,590 from the National Academy of Sciences to develop open-access educational resources connecting history, science, technology, and the arts. The multidisciplinary project includes Daena J. Carrillo, DDes, assistant professor of professional practice in the LSU School of Information Studies, and Bethany Hager, director of Louisiana A+ Schools and Professor of Research in the Office of Educational Research, both of whom are part of the LSU College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE). CHSE alumna Alvera McMillan is also a member of the project team.

Led by Linda Hooper-Bùi, the Deputy Director of LSU’s Gordon A. Cain Center for STEM Literacy and professor in LSU's Department of Environmental Sciences, and director of the LSU National Academies of Sciences Gulf Scholars Program, the project is funded through the National Academies' Gulf Research Program as part of its Mississippi River 100: Education Grants initiative. The program supports educational projects commemorating the centennial of the 1927 Great Mississippi River Flood.

The historic flood reshaped communities and landscapes throughout the Mississippi River region and influenced approaches to river management and disaster preparedness. A century later, the FLOOD team will use lessons from that event to help students understand both the forces that create flood hazards and the long-term social, environmental, and economic consequences of disasters.

“The 1927 flood was not just a hydrologic event; it was a social, environmental, and political turning point,” Hooper-Bùi said. “A century later, we can use that history to help students connect science with the human consequences of disasters. I hope FLOOD gives students dynamic tools to understand risk, question assumptions, and think more creatively and equitably about resilience in their own communities.”

Bringing Flood Education Into the Classroom

FLOOD will create open-access, place-based instructional modules for students that integrate history, hydrology, engineering, environmental science, artificial intelligence, and the arts.

Rather than teaching flooding through a single discipline, the project will use simulations, games, role-playing, archival research, and digital storytelling to help students explore complex environmental challenges from multiple perspectives.

For Hager, the project creates an opportunity to bring the arts-integrated approach of Louisiana A+ Schools into learning about an issue with deep connections to Louisiana and the Gulf South.

“Flooding is not just a scientific or engineering problem. It is connected to history, place, people, communities, and the choices we make about our future. Arts integration gives students another way into that complexity. Through Louisiana A+ Schools, we can help teachers create learning experiences that enable students to explore science and data, ask questions, make connections, and communicate what they understand in creative ways,” said Hager. “I hope that educators leave the professional development with practical strategies they can take directly into their classrooms and that students ultimately see themselves not just as learners of this information, but as people who can use it to understand and contribute to the resilience of their own communities.”

The project will also support teacher professional development across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, three states connected by the Mississippi River watershed.

Through the combination of scientific inquiry, historical analysis, and creative exploration, the team aims to strengthen students' flood literacy, systems thinking, data literacy, and civic engagement. As part of this effort, Louisiana A+ Schools will partner with the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts to implement a statewide art contest commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Ultimately, the project is designed to help young people better understand hazards affecting their own communities and consider informed and equitable approaches to building long-term resilience.

Connecting Information, History, and Community

Carrillo brings another CHSE perspective to the interdisciplinary team through her work in LSU's School of Information Studies. FLOOD's use of archival research, digital storytelling, data, and technology creates opportunities for students to explore not only what happened during the 1927 flood but also how information about historic events is discovered, interpreted, and communicated.

“In an effort to build a deeper, tangible understanding of the 1927 flood, Information Studies provides teachers with resources that go beyond the textbook. It’s an opportunity to engage with primary source materials actively; examining historical documents, photographs, maps, newspapers, and government records,” Carrillo explains. “Students are exploring the ' voices' of the 1927 experience, actively hearing each other’s perceptions, while shaping their own classroom community experience. FLOOD affords students and teachers valuable research skills that can be carried across disciplines and beyond the classroom.”

Carrillo and Hager are joined on the project by McMillan, a CHSE alumna, Louisiana Sea Grant Director of Education and Engagement Danielle DiIullo, and Vanessa van Heerden.

Together, the multidisciplinary team is connecting scientific inquiry with historical and creative analysis to help students better understand the Mississippi River system and the communities it supports. As the centennial approaches, FLOOD will draw on lessons from one of the nation's most consequential floods to encourage students to think critically about the river's future and the resilience of the communities along it.