Full Transcript for The Rising Generation: Future Leaders of Coastal Louisiana

Nunez Community College. I graduated this past May with my associates in the Coastal Studies and GIS Tech program. I am a greenhouse and nursery technician at the Agri Aquaculture. I know it's a mouthful. I know. Yeah. Simone Maloz+: No, it's I think it's something we're gonna have to talk about too, right. You know? Did your master naturalist, did that help you in your current position? Kylie Miller: It really does. So it gives me a lot more, 'cause I already had a pretty good basis of botany and horticulture knowledge and it kind of just build heavily on top of everything I already knew. And my whole job, is really growing plants and animal husbandry. 'cause we also raised fish. So it did help a lot. Simone Maloz+: Very cool. Okay, so let's hold that 'cause I wanna talk about that a little bit. I wanna talk about how you grew up in St. Bernard Parish. I think Kylie, you, you've obviously seen and [00:04:00] heard the land loss crisis that we face here. You know, tell us a little bit from your perspective about growing up, in a world where you knew we faced these coastal challenges. And what some of the things we were trying to do to address them. Take it from like your younger point of view, what that meant to you. Do you think it's one of the reasons , why you went to Nunes, obviously you did future coastal leaders. Do you think that's part of your story is Kylie Miller: Oh. Simone Maloz+: parish that experiences land loss? Kylie Miller: It definitely is. I got into coastal work whenever I was in high school, so I was actually in a horticulture class and one of our field trips was volunteering with CRCL and we went out to essential wetlands unit to plant trees, which is in Violet. And I actually grew up three streets over from where we were, where we launched from at the Violet canal and so to go out there. Like we're planting trees and I kind of just like had this moment where I'm like, this is really what I wanna do. Because they also taught us, the history of what the central wetlands unit used to look like, which I had no clue about. We [00:05:00] learned about coastal loss and like el like middle school and high school. But to be out there, to be around an area that I did grow up in. And I played, I full wheelers and went out and explored all the time to be told that it used to be a big Cypress, Tupelo forest, and now it's nothing was crazy to me. So, that, that definitely did inspire me to get into it. Simone Maloz+: Yeah. So that's just so interesting to think about. Like, you took something that was so big, like we talk about Louisiana's landlock crisis, , but it made it personal. It made it local for you, right? And you could see what happened right there. Is that why you wanted. Do ccls Future Coastal Leaders or the the Mississippi River Delta Institute program through the Monroe Foundation? Is that why you wanted to do those? Kylie Miller: I really am just a person where I will hop on any opportunity I get to further my knowledge of

whatever I'm really into. And so when [00:06:00] I got, when I was informed about these things, I just hopped on it. De experience in me getting in the coastal work definitely pushed me to go do those professional development and educational experiences. Simone Maloz+: Yeah. 'Cause those are really at the heart of what they are. They're, they're like leadership experiences or like professional development. Just like you said, they just have a coastal twist to 'em too. So, good for you. I was probably always that. Person too. I like to do stuff like that too. I would always sign up for stuff like that. I wish I had more opportunities like that growing up in a field that I like, something that I cared about. So tell us a little bit about your newness experience and about you know. at the community college or going to the community college. Nunes is so, so active in the coastal space. I'm, I'm assuming you ran into that a lot during your community college experience. Kylie Miller: Yeah. I loved the program at Nunes. besides for like Nunes itself, just being like, really like the school itself, [00:07:00] the way it's set up, all the teachers, the atmosphere besides for that. Jacqueline Richard is the one that runs the coastal department, the program over there. And she is so with all of her classes and her students, like just the people in her programs that I don't think I would've gotten as many like opportunities that I have now if it wasn't for her. Like constantly showing us what's out there for people within our field, like people that are interested in coastal work. So that's something I'm really grateful for going to Nunez is that I don't think I would've had the ability to do, or the knowledge of all these other like programs I could go partake in. Simone Maloz+: Yeah. Like Jackie made a reel. Right. You know, and she, she had such great access and connections. That's great. She's such a great faculty member over there and. So I'm glad that she brings those experiences. Tell us a little bit more about your current work. You started to tell us a little bit about what the Louisiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation is doing [00:08:00] with their Agri Aquaculture program. I think some people would be surprised to know what's on the West Bank, right? Kylie Miller: Yeah, it's in Harvey on, on the West Bank, which it's, so, it's an urban farm and we're right off of Manhattan. We are a 10,000 square foot farm and we do aquaponics. So we raise fish catfish specifically, and we harvest their waste and then turn it into fertilizers and we grow produce with that hydroponically. And then we give the produce out to the community. LCCF, Louisiana Chamber of Commerce wanted to get into the sphere of agriculture because they already do a lot of. They kind of just do anything that's uplifting for Louisiana. That's their whole mission basically. And they wanted to start reaching out to local farmers, you know, people that are into urban agriculture or just like

actual, traditional farmers who don't quite know how to navigate things or where to go or. to talk to politicians for themselves. [00:09:00] Like that's, that's the other stuff we do. Simone Maloz+: Kylie, it feels like you're, you're carrying that leadership institute exp experience, you know, your professional development into your work life too and bringing that to other people. So I think that's great. so we are talking about, you know, next generation, right? Of. are seeing the coastal challenges, but have seen some opportunities. Right. Let's do the challenging part first. What do you think is the biggest challenge that your generation's gonna face when it comes to restoring and protecting Louisiana's coast? Kylie Miller: I think, which don't know if it's just a challenge for my generation. I think it's gonna be a continuing challenge, which is finding a place of agreement. Working within the coastal sphere, I have learned that we have the smartest people in this sphere working on things that we have people that are so determined and so positive and really wanna make change and really wanna do work towards this. So [00:10:00] I don't think it's a lack of effort or ability for us to do these things to like save our coastline. I think the challenge comes in on being on the same page between scientists, communities and politicians. Which 'cause, you know, we all want the same thing, but we all kind of have different ideas of how to get there. And I think that's probably gonna continue to be the biggest challenge. Simone Maloz+: I think that's really well said. Right. You know, I think it's a, it is a issue that so many people feel passionate about for so many different reasons. And, it's not controversial right. And the fact that we want to do something about the crisis, it's just how we get there. And you know, what is the solution or solutions, I mean, you know, right? Should be more than one solution to solve the crisis. And it's about education and action, right? It's all those different things. So I think that's really well said, Kylie. another young Kylie that could be listening to this podcast right now. What message would [00:11:00] you wanna share with her or other young people in Louisiana who might wanna think about pursuing a path in coastal restoration or environmental work or even, you know, volunteering for the cause? What, what would you say to little Kylie might be, might be to the podcast? Kylie Miller: I tell this to everybody. Just go to events, go talk to people, send emails, because we really do. We have so many opportunities, so many events, educational thing like programs, experiences and stuff like that within the coastal sphere that I feel like a lot of people just don't know about. And you can have all those shown to you by just like going to ask somebody or going to talk to somebody and like if you go to community events, there's probably always gonna be someone there for coastal advocacy they are the nicest people

in the world. Like everyone I've ever worked with within the coastal sphere has always been, Simone Maloz+: about the coastal community. Kylie Miller: [00:12:00] they've always been the nicest people I've ever met and they're always willing to uplift. Each other. They're always like, if you go ask one of them a question, they will give you every answer they can think of. They'll give you other people's email to be like, I'll connect you with this person. I got you. So there's really nothing to be scared of. If you wanna get into it. Like if this is something that you're interested in and you wanna learn more, just go do it. Like, I know it sounds kind of Simone Maloz+: No, Kylie Miller: like whatever, but. Simone Maloz+: important. There's people that maybe don't know to do or how to do it, and I think your words of advice can apply to coastal. You said really nice things about the coastal community, so thank you. But I think that's just a general life lesson is a little bit. That, you know, if you want something it's there. So you just gotta ask for it or, or know kind of overcome probably more of yourself to get over the barriers to ask for something. So I think that's great advice. I think, think you, you started off by saying that too. It's not just advice for younger people. That's advice. For any age, anybody [00:13:00] interest. And that is passionate about the coast. That's kind of the first step to advocacy. So I very much appreciate that. Well, Kylie, thank you. Thank you for being passionate about this. Thank you for going to those events, asking those questions. I wanna thank for all those people in, in your world from Jackie to. To to, to the folks at CRCL for making the world comfortable for you to ask those questions and to dig in deep with your volunteerism and now carrying it on to your work. So thank you. Thanks for being on the show today. And, and if you ever need anything come back, I'll help you too. Kylie Miller: Yeah, it was a pleasure. Simone Maloz+: All right. Now we'd like to welcome back to the show, FCA Troutman. She's the co-founder and CEO of glass, half full. You probably know her already. Glass half full is a grassroots. Glass Recycling program that works to convert glass into sustainable sand and gravel that can be used for coastal restoration, disaster [00:14:00] relief flooring, and new glass products. Welcome back to the show, Fran. Franziska Trautmann: Thanks for having me again. Simone Maloz+: so we talked about this a little offline, but last time my co-host Shock had you on the show. And so now I get you all to myself and you know, to think about we did the show all those years ago and, and to see that you're still in this space making such an impact. So it's been a little while since we last had you on. So do you wanna. Remind folks tell us a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your origin story. Franziska Trautmann: Sure. I mean, my origin story goes way back to, to the Karen Crow Bayou, but

I won't go that far. Simone Maloz+: that's You know, I love that you're a Louisiana coastal native so yeah, tell that part of the story. I do love that. Franziska Trautmann: Yeah, well I grew up in Karen Crow, small town outside of Lafayette on Bayou, Karen Crow, surrounded by the nature, the beauty of Louisiana [00:15:00] and just growing up around that and appreciating our, our natural beauty that we have here. And, you know, also grew up with that fear of, of coastal erosion coming to get us one day. Don't know what day, but one day. And you know, finally when I went to Tulane University for college, I studied engineering and always wanted to be able to help with environmental issues and especially issues facing our state. Originally thought maybe I would get into helping with the plastic crisis, but. A bottle of wine one night changed that when my, Simone Maloz+: It's in a lot of people's Franziska Trautmann: my boyfriend, Simone Maloz+: Sure. Franziska Trautmann: of course, of course, naturally. But when our bottle of wine was empty, we realized it would end up in a landfill because we didn't have any glass recycling here. And having studied, you know, engineering at Tulane, remembering that glass comes from sand. [00:16:00] And then finally we found this machine that could turn glass back into sand. And that's what just kind of jumped us into action when we realized, oh, what if we could convert otherwise landfill glass back into sand and use it in coastal restoration? It was this kind of crazy idea. But the deeper we got into it, we were like, whoa, what, what if this could work? And that's how, that's how Glass Half Full started back in 2020. Simone Maloz+: Just love the idea of you Googling. crusher, you know, like, I mean, because they were probably like, whoa. Somebody did ask for, somebody finally asked, I just love that idea about you going down that rabbit hole. And our first guest, Kylie talked about that a little bit, about like just. Being willing to take that first step. And it sounds like you took that right. You know, you just did that and then you took the step after that. Okay, so, so you, you follow this crazy story, you do something amazing. So tell us about what you've been doing. You know, you [00:17:00] have this coastal restoration side of glass half full, and then you have some other, I guess, product lines. Would you even call? Yeah. So tell us a little bit more about that. Franziska Trautmann: Yeah, well that was the founding idea behind Glass Half Full was using the sand for coastal restoration. But obviously we had to one figure out if that was even possible. So that was kind of the first step. I luckily, because I was studying chemical engineering. I had some professors who, either like studied sand or other things and I went to them first. I was like, what do you think about this? Could you help me? And Dr. Julie Albert took this on and we applied for a National Science Foundation grant back in 2020 and that has

basically funded all of the research we've been able to do over the last five years. It's, you know, spun off to allow other funding and other masters and PhD students research, which has been awesome to see. Like this web of research that's just been able to happen because of that initial funding. And we answered a lot of the, [00:18:00] the basic questions early on because pretty much no one had done any of this research yet. Other people had had this idea. Across the world, you know, closer to home in Florida, people had this idea, but no one had ever actually done, all of the research to, to see if this was possible. And so we were kind of starting from ground zero with like, okay, what's in glass sand? What's in our native sand? How does that compare? Like, could this be replaced? Should it be supplemented? How do plants grow in it? How do animals and fish and crabs react to it? You know, all of that basic research. And then from there, be able to build on that to then go out into the field and do demonstration projects and see how it does in natural settings. And just grew out from there. But. Coastal restoration being like the mission has been awesome, obviously, but if you know anything about sand and coastal restoration, not a lot of money in it. The sand is cheap. Simone Maloz+: Not all, [00:19:00] you know, it's a Franziska Trautmann: and Simone Maloz+: of sin. You gotta, you got, sometimes you gotta go far out and get it right. You know, those kinds of things. Franziska Trautmann: transportation's the biggest thing. Transportation's the biggest thing. Simone Maloz+: yes. Franziska Trautmann: But we had to figure out how to make this, you know, financially sustainable. We wanted to be in it for the long haul, and so that's why we now with our new facility that we just opened, create Culet so Culet can be turned back into new bottles and we're able to sell that into industry to kind of support and bolster our coastal restoration work. Simone Maloz+: So I wanna go back to the point you just made earlier about this, the importance of foundational science in research. I think it's so easy to dismiss things like that, and if you have this idea or something that. wanna look at? I, I can tell you at the coalition, we have found so much success in taking some of that risk and doing some of that initial foundational work. Like just stuff that you realize that, you know, is the basis, the building block for so many [00:20:00] things, but that nobody's done yet. But it's risky. It's risky to do that. And so we found a lot of success in doing that when we talk. About, you know, trying to find river reconnections or other ways to look at coastal restoration. But we've found success in that. So I think it's so important to hear you talk about it. And Fran, I gotta, I have to tell you, you are such an effective science communicator and communicator period that I think. Franziska Trautmann: Thank you. Simone Maloz+: it so approachable to people, right? And, and I've seen you talk about pretty complex issues in a way that is not it's not condescending, it's just, this is what you need to know and this is the way that I see it. And so I really have to give you compliments on that. Even when you talk about, building a project. I I love to watch you, you know. Okay. This is day three of us building the project. So tell us a little bit about like, how you communicate about your work. 'cause I do think you're, [00:21:00] you're so great at that and I will hope that you can see the success and what you're doing, that you're like getting to people and you're getting your message across. Franziska Trautmann: That is such a high compliment from a like professional communicator, Simone Maloz+: Yeah, but Fran, I just Franziska Trautmann: so thank you. Simone Maloz+: you say it well and communicate to new and different audiences, and I think that is so critical. I think it's so critical. Franziska Trautmann: Thank you. I think it's not my natural state, I think to be a communicator, but maybe that helps me as well, is that I'm usually. Pretty quiet and reserved and a little introverted, and I am brief, I guess, which I think in this climate of like short form content is very helpful. I have a way of condensing something that could be a 10 minute, yeah. I'm very good at being succinct. I don't know why, I think I just don't usually like to talk a lot, so I figure out [00:22:00] how to say what I wanna say very quickly, and that's helpful when you're doing tiktoks or reels that are usually, you know, a minute long and fighting against people's very short attention spans. Simone Maloz+: I just think you're so great at it. And, and as a person who is not succinct, I am envious of that. I am envious that Fran, talk a little bit can, if you can, about, you know, how you see Louisiana's. Coastal Master Plan, the coastal program that obviously shapes your work. It's, it drives your mission, but like when you pick projects, , I know that y'all think about all those layers of kind of science-based planning, but, , you instill it at a community level. Franziska Trautmann: Yeah, and that's what I love about the Coastal Master Plan is just how based in science it is. That's something maybe we don't always see in Louisiana and especially on the state level. Just like something that is just so comprehensively [00:23:00] based in science and engineering and research about our coast. It's just a beautiful thing to see. And I remember one of the first coastal master plans I saw like the packet. Had an entire page about sediment and that is what really blew my mind. I was like, oh my God, first of all, we need so much sediment, it's all flowing down the Mississippi River and like what are we gonna do about it? And that's when I realized how, you know, glass half full might be able to plug into the Coastal Master Plan in a much smaller way. And also just seeing how. The Coastal master plan is such a huge, undertaking

and plan of very large scale projects, and it's important to, to figure out as like a smaller organization where you can fit in and like supplement, you know, these bigger projects that they're doing, but seeing like, oh, you know, maybe in the central wetlands unit, there's some areas to plug in here with smaller marsh [00:24:00] creation projects that are clearly important, which they outlined, but maybe they're not focusing on in the next five years or so. So I think that's how we kind of use the, the Coastal Master Plan in addition to all of the crazy stuff that they put in about sand and sediment. Simone Maloz+: Well in and in and of itself, the master plan is so many things. It is so huge and ambitious and it needs to be right. We are firm believers at the coalition that it has to be that big and that ambitious to match in size to match the size and scale the problem. Right? But to your point is that people have to find themselves in it. They have to find they have to find some hope. They have to find information about the risk of where they might live or what their future might look like. And so while it does seem like this, like really big 50 year, $50 billion thing, I think you can end up slicing it up in so many ways that it does come down to almost even an individual level of like, [00:25:00] do I wanna raise my home? Right. You know, because of my risk or like, can this, can this project protect a shoreline that stops, you know floods from, or, you know, too much water come into my house? So I love, I love that the master plan is that complex and it's it's also just that simple, right? It's, it's this really ambitious plan. but it can be distilled down to something that everybody should find themselves in. So, I, I love hearing you say that too. It is a little overwhelming the amount of information that goes into it. And I think sometimes we do a disservice to it by just saying it's a 50 year, $50 billion plan, because appendices alone are like thousands of Franziska Trautmann: Right. Simone Maloz+: And you're like, who wrote that? You know, who wrote? Franziska Trautmann: Yeah. Simone Maloz+: of the smartest. People that did all of this work. And so but I love seeing it just in how you apply it. Right. You know, because I think that is important to [00:26:00] seeing the different facets of the plan and how many different ways that you can use it. So, Okay, Fran, so I wanna talk a little bit. So you, you grew up on Bayou, Karen Crow, you went, Tulane, you found. A life and a world in, in the environment here, what advice would you have for I, I would say the question says for young people, but I would say for other young people, 'cause you're younger than I am, who, who wanna bring new ideas or who want, to have more of a stake in, in solving our coastal challenges. What advice would you have for them? Franziska Trautmann: So I have two things. The first, we already kind of touched on, you touched on it earlier, which is all of these

big ideas start somewhere small, right? They don't start with like, even take the coastal mass plant, we're gonna do a 50 year coastal mass plant. That's not like, okay, and what you start. You start with these small steps and that's how Glass Half Full started, right? We had this [00:27:00] big idea. Sure, but where do we actually start with a Google search? Any, like, almost anyone can do a Google search. We started with a Google search. We found this little machine, then we started a GoFundMe campaign. You know, it's these really small steps that. Build momentum that build your confidence in being able to do something that actually add up to accomplishing something bigger. And for us even where we are today is not where we dreamed or imagined we would be. Originally, we said, let's just do glass recycling for New Orleans. And then we were like, okay, well what about Baton Rouge? What about the North Shore? What about Mississippi? Now we're in Alabama. We just kind of keep. Once we reach the top of the A mountain, we kind of like set our eyes on a new one. And I think that's really important to keep in mind is you might have these big ideas that feel overwhelming, but once you start to take small steps and build momentum, that's when you really start start getting things done and seeing progress being made. So that would be [00:28:00] my first piece of, of advice and my second. Which I really only just learned is 'cause it's, it's hard when you're young and you're new to a space. All of these people are normal people like the people building the Coastal Master plan, you leading this huge, incredible coalition. Like all the non-profit leaders, they're all normal people that want to see our coast thrive and want to see our coast restored and want to see young people get involved. And it might be scary, but truly reaching out to someone to ask questions, to get to know them, to network or attending events. It's scary at the time, but we're all regular people. We all want to get more people involved. And I think, yeah, when you're young it can be scary to, to like call up Simone and ask her what she thinks or you. Simone Maloz+: even get to hear Kylie, but Kylie said exactly like almost word for word Exactly. That go to an [00:29:00] event, meet somebody, and she was incredibly kind and said that the coastal community. Like, well, okay, what do you need? How can I help you if I can't help you off on somebody else who can help you? You know? So, Brandon, it's so funny to hear you say that 'cause you didn't get to hear Kylie say that, but she said the same thing. And I hope people feel that way. I hope they're not. You know, that the. Coastal crisis is just that it is hard and it's daunting and it is sometimes scary to think about, but I think the community in which that's working on it, I hope that it's really open and it's really engaging and you know, we need more people, we need more voices. We need more people talking about it. We need. More people interested in solving the problems that we have, you know? So getting people engaged. And so I, I hope I, I love to hear two people say that because that's nice, that, that's definitely nice to hear it. 'cause at some point you know, we're gonna hand the reins off to somebody and, we will know that it's in good hands too. So, [00:30:00] okay. For, you're working on a couple of. Things. What's one thing you wanna talk about that you're working on that you're really proud of, that we we're gonna be able to see you doing in the future? Franziska Trautmann: Um, I guess I would go with our Islands project. It's been a, a journey in learning how to build an island. You know, same thing like Google. To build an island? No. Simone Maloz+: It's so Franziska Trautmann: we. Simone Maloz+: Dubai. That's what they say all the time. Franziska Trautmann: I know people tell me that too. But no, that's been a really cool project that's part of the NSF funded, our first two islands that we were able to do. We actually mix our sand with Mississippi River Silts invite the avenue, which was an old Growth Cypress and Tupelo Swamp. So we're trying to bring back Cypress and Tupelo to this area. So we're trying to build up the sediment so that they have an easier time growing and reproducing. And that's just been fun because one, I get to get in the swamp and build islands. Like, that's just a cool thing to say, but it's cool [00:31:00] already seeing the first two islands that we built about a year ago, kind of just like take over bring back native species to this area that. Wasn't barely even considered a wetland anymore because it was so degraded. So that's been really fun. We figured out the best way to build an island, if you wanted to know, is to, is to make a slurry so you suck up by you Water. Okay, here's how you build an island. Write this down. Yeah. But we, we, we basically make a slurry with, we, we suck up water from the bayou, mix it with the sediment and pump it back out. Which has been cool. Simone Maloz+: fine. I've, I've seen the videos. I like it. It's so fun to see you get dirty too, Fran. Well so we, I've taken up too much of your time. You have very important work to do, but please, please tell everybody listening where they can find more about your work, how they can stay connected. 'cause y'all are so great about that. Franziska Trautmann: Thank you. Yes. If you wanna bring us your glass or get your glass picked up or join us on a coastal project, we [00:32:00] are@glasshalffull.co. That's our website and also our Instagram and TikTok. Simone Maloz+: Well, thank you so much. It was so fun talking to you. I'm now I'm less jealous that Jock got you the first time. 'cause I got you again talking about all the. new stuff that you're doing. Again, I just you have a huge cheerleader over here in, in so many different ways. I will try to be more brief and succinct. Probably I will try though, I promise you. Franziska Trautmann: You have a podcast, so it's okay. This is long form. Simone Maloz+: my kids friend what I do for a living, they're like, talk on the phone, . So but yeah. But I pro I promise you I will be more succinct. I promise that. So well, thank you. This has been such an inspiring conversation with you and with Kylie Miller earlier two of Louisiana's Rising Coastal Leaders. Thank you for the work that you're doing and for sharing your stories with us today. That's, this is it. The last episode for this Delta Dispatches 2.0. You can find all the past episodes@deltadispatches.org and [00:33:00] subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to Delta Dispatches 2.0. Maybe we'll be back, maybe, I don't know. So we'll be back. Maybe we'll be back. But keep listening to Older Delta Dispatches. There's still some great content there. And until then, see you later. Alligator.