Harris Bienn is a Research Assistant for The Water Institute of the Gulf, where he is a member of the Human Dimensions group. Harris joined the Institute in 2014 as a research intern focused primarily on engineering design and innovation. He has since moved into the social sciences realm and is currently studying the relationship between population health and oil and gas infrastructure development. His research interests include environmental justice, human response to environmental hazard, nature-based solutions for water resources management, and data modeling and analysis using geographic information systems (GIS).
His recent work at the Institute includes a comprehensive water resources assessment for the state of Louisiana, research regarding coastal communities’ response to disasters, identification of vulnerable coastal infrastructure through photogrammetric analysis, and quantification of the social and economic value associated with environmental restoration projects.
Prior to joining the Institute, Harris worked for the Jacobs Alliance Group at the ExxonMobil Chemical Plant doing process engineering preparations for turnaround projects. Harris spent four years in the United State Marine Corps as an enlisted infantryman and left the service in 2012.
Harris will be graduating from Louisiana State University’s College of Civil and Environmental Engineering in May of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering. He anticipates future academic endeavors related to the nexus of anthropogenic development and adaptive water resources management.

Projects
- Louisiana Adaptive Management Status and Improvement Report: Vision and Recommendations
- Institute researchers author five journal articles in special issue of Shore and Beach journal “Deepwater Horizon 10 years later”
- City of Covington: Flood Response Plan Development
- Statewide Water Resources Framework
- Partnership for Our Working Coast
- Supporting the Working Coast
Reports
- A Community-Informed Framework for Quantifying Risk and Resilience in Southeast Louisiana
- Louisiana Adaptive Management Status and Improvement Report: Vision and Recommendations
- Science-based Decision Support for Restoration and Conservation Planning in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
- Monitoring Plans for Louisiana's System-Wide Assessment and Monitoring Program (SWAMP) Version IV
Publications
- Elevating local knowledge through participatory modeling: active community engagement in restoration planning in coastal Louisiana
- Knowledge-Based Predictive Tools to Assess Effectiveness of Natural and Nature-Based Solutions for Coastal Restoration and Protection Planning
- Engaging coastal community members about natural and nature-based solutions to assess their ecosystem function
- Modeling current and future freshwater inflow needs of a subtropical estuary to manage and maintain forested wetland ecological conditions
- Monitoring plans for Louisiana’s system-wide assessment and monitoring program (SWAMP). Version IV
- Louisiana Adaptive Management Status and Improvement Report: Vision and Recommendations
- Gulf-wide data synthesis for restoration planning: Utility and limitations
- Double exposure and dynamic vulnerability: Assessing economic well-being, ecological change and the development of the oil and gas industry in coastal Louisiana
See All Work