Dr. Heather Stone, associate professor in the College of Education & Human Development, spent the last eight years collecting oral histories from former residents of Isle de Jean Charles after their ancestral home was nearly wiped out from erosion and subsidence. Now her work is being used to educate Lafayette middle school students on the personal impacts of these environmental changes.
She discusses her experience getting to know the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation community, developments in her upcoming book and where her research is taking her next.
For more information about Stone's research, read these articles from previous issues of La Louisiane.
End of the Road: Oral histories tell stories of displaced tribe's plight by Charlie Bier (2024)
Engulfed: Coastal erosion is sinking Isle de Jean Charles by Charlie Bier (2016)