Keynote: Frontlines of the Future

​KEYNOTE DESCRIPTION

​The keynote programming for the 31st Annual Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit will take place in McAlister Auditorium. The keynote will focus on the science of climate change, the threat posed by rising sea levels to low-lying coastal systems, and mitigation and adaptation strategies. It will highlight the future risks of long-term climate change at a global, national, and local level for both the planet and its people. It will conclude by demonstrating opportunities to adapt to and mitigate these risks, and by sharing examples of communities and policy-makers doing exactly that in Louisiana.

​The keynote programming will begin with opening remarks from the Summit Director, Alexander LeFebvre, followed by a lightning keynote delivered by Franziska Trautmann, CEO and Co-Founder of Glass Half Full. Franziska, a Tulane alumna, will share her journey from starting Glass Half Full in the backyard of a fraternity house at Tulane to becoming a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and using her business to help recycle millions of pounds of glass that is then used to restore Louisiana's coastline. Next, Prof. Rebecca Bratspies, the Oliver Houk Chair of Environmental Law at Tulane University Law School, will make some brief remarks and introduce our keynote speaker, Dr. Virginia Burkett, Chief Scientist Emeritus at the United States Geological Survey.

​Following Dr. Burkett's address, a reception will follow at Tulane University Law School, hosted by the Environmental & Energy Law Society.

​Moderated by Alexander LeFebvre and Prof. Rebecca Bratspies.

​DR. VIRGINIA BURKETT

​Dr. Virginia Burkett is presently an emeritus scientist at the United States Geological Survey. She retired from the USGS last year after 50 years of state, academic and federal service. She is a graduate of Northwestern State University of Louisiana, where she received her Bachelor of Science and her Master of Science degrees in zoology and botany, respectively. Her doctoral degree in forestry was awarded from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1996. She began her research career at Louisiana State University's Sea Grant program in 1975.

​Dr. Burkett has published roughly 100 journal articles, book chapters and reports that focus on wetlands, global change, and low-lying coastal systems. Burkett was a Lead Author of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third, Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports and the IPCC Technical Paper on Water. She was also a Lead Author of the First, Second and Third US National Climate Assessments.

​She served as USGS Chief Scientist for Global Change Research (2008-2015) and, subsequently, as the Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change at the USGS. She was Chair of the $2.4 billion US Global Change Research Program, which consisted of climate science programs in 13 Federal agencies. Prior to leading climate change science at USGS, Burkett was Chief of the Forest Ecology Branch at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette. Prior to her work at USGS, Burkett was Secretary and Director of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, where she formerly served as Deputy Secretary.

​As a U.S. Delegate to the international Group on Earth Observations in 2018-2025, Burkett helped coordinate the collection and delivery of satellite and in-situ Earth Observations from 116 nations. She Co-chaired GEOs Climate Change Working Group and was a principal Delegate to AmeriGEO (21 countries in the Western Hemisphere). She served as an Editor of the journal Regional Environmental Change (2012-2022) and is presently on the Editorial Boards of Ethics in Science and Environmental Policy, Carbon Balance and Management and Regional Environmental Change.

​Burkett has been appointed to over 70 Commissions, Committees, Science Panels and Boards during her career. In 2020 she was appointed to the Louisiana Governors Climate Initiatives Task Force. She Co-chaired the Science Advisory Group to the Task Force. She was a member of the U.S. Climate Security Advisory Committee and the National AcademiesClimate Security Roundtable. She contributed to the 2021 National Intelligence Estimate of climate change impacts on US national security.

​In 2025 Burkett received the Maddox Prize for Standing Up for Science from Nature Publishing and Sense About Science, both headquartered in the United Kingdom.

​FRANZISKA TRAUTMANN

​Over 12 million more pounds of glass would be in landfills if not for Franziska and her team at Glass Half Full. Started in the backyard of a college fraternity house in New Orleans, Glass Half Full recycles glass into sand for coastal restoration and cullet for the manufacturing of new bottles. Franziska, a Carencro, Louisiana native, graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from Tulane University. This gave her the skills necessary to help lead a research team backed by the National Science Foundation, conducting novel research on the use of recycled glass sand for coastal restoration. They have completed six coastal restoration projects, restoring thousands of meters of coastline and counting. In her spare time, Franziska makes educational TikToks ranging from recycling to climate change to recycling and how individuals can take action. Her page has garnered over 300,000 followers and millions of views.