Water law expert Mark Davis named director of ByWater Institute

Tulane Law School’s Mark Davis, a leading authority on water law and policy, has been named interim director of the ByWater Institute at Tulane University, a new riverfront campus dedicated to coastal restoration and protection. Davis is the founding director of the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy and a senior research fellow at Tulane Law School. He previously spent 15 years as executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, where he helped shape programs and policies at the state and federal level to improve the stewardship of the wetlands and waters of coastal Louisiana. “Mark’s selection to lead the ByWater Institute at its launch, while a search begins for a permanent director, is a well-deserved recognition of Mark’s expertise and leadership on campus,” said David Meyer, dean of Tulane Law School. “During his tenure as director of the ByWater Institute, Mark will continue to direct the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy and his dual leadership roles will ensure that the law school’s strengths in maritime, environmental and energy law are appropriately represented in emerging university initiatives.” A leading priority of Tulane President Michael Fitts and Tulane Provost Robin Forman, the ByWater Institute will bring scholars from across disciplines together to find innovative solutions to one of the biggest challenges facing Louisiana and vulnerable communities worldwide — how to manage threats of rising water from coastal erosion, natural disasters and a changing environment. Headquartered in a 5,800-square-foot facility located at the Robin Street Wharf on the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans, the Institute houses conference and research facilities, classrooms, a riverfront observatory and staging areas for field operations. It will serve as a hub for research and outreach relating to coastal preservation and restoration, water resources, ecology and energy. Through the Law School’s Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy, Davis and colleague Dean Boyer issued a report earlier this month outlining available funding strategies for restoring Louisiana’s fragile coast