Conference Agenda

7 November 2002

Session 1 Comparing Rivers
Chair: Terrence Fitzmorris (University College, Tulane University)

• Conference Overview
  • C.P. Wolf (Social Impact Assessment Center, New York City)
• Dedication
  • Austin B. M. Egborge (late Professor of Hydrobiology, University of Benin)
  • Gilbert F. White (Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Boulder)
• Introductions
• Welcome
  • Tulane University (Teresa Soufas, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)
  • US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (Col. Peter J. Rowan, District Engineer)*
  • National Inland Waterways Authority (Engr. R.D. Abubakar, Managing Director)
  • Niger Delta Development Commission (Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Chairman)
  • The World Bank (Ousmane Dione)
• Keynote Addresses:
  • "The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation"
    Douglas Brinkley (Department of History, University of New Orleans)*
  • Goodluck Jonathan (Deputy Governor, Bayelsa State)

Session 2. Development Experience
Chair: Colin MacLachlan (Department of History, Tulane University)

• Development History
  • "Lessons Learned from the Mississippi Experience"
    Edwin Lyon (New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers, and Tulane University)
  • "The River Niger as a Metaphor for Nigeria"
    Godfrey N. Uzoigwe (Department of History, Mississippi State University)
• River Development
  • "The Comprehensive Plan for the Upper Mississippi"
    Jerry A. Skalak (Rock Island district, Corps of Engineers)
  • "The Inland Waterways Master Plan"
    Peter C. Nwilo (National Inland Waterways Authority, Lokoja)
• Regional Development
  • Mississippi Regional Authority*
  • "Developing a Master Plan for the Niger Delta Region"
    Godwin Omene (Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission)
  • Theresa Griessel (Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit [GTZ], Lagos)
• Rapporteur

Session 3: Resource Development
Chair: Philip Combs (Waterways Experiment Station, Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi)

• Water Resources
  • "Morphologic Response of the Lower Mississippi"
    David Biederharn (Engineering Research and Development Center, US Army Corps of Engineers)
  • "The Mississippi River Project"
    Joaquin Mujica (Operations Division, New Orleans District)
  • "International Perspectives on Niger River Development"
    Ousmane Dione (Africa Region, The World Bank, Washington DC)
  • "The River Niger Dredging Project"
    (National Inland Waterways Authority)
  • "Issues in Niger River Dredging"
    Peter A. Ekeh (Urhobo Historical Society and State University of New York, Buffalo)
• Rapporteur
  Gregory Breerwood (Operations Division, New Orleans District)

Session 4: Economic Development
Chair: Ivan J. Miestchovich, Jr. (Center for Economic Development, University of New Orleans)

• Agricultural Development
  • "Lower Mississippi Valley Initiative"
    Paul Coreil (Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge)
  • "Agricultural Development in the Niger Valley"
    Edin Aroh (Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt)
• Industrial Development
  • Ports and Waterways of the Mississippi River -- Present and Future
    • Anatoly Hochstein (National Ports and Waterways Institute, University of New Orleans)
  • Socioeconomic Effects of OCS Oil and Gas Development in the Gulf of Mexico
    • Harry Luton (Gulf of Mexico Region, Minerals Management Service)*
    • Robert Gramling (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette)
    • Ayorinde Idowu (Jamemil Petroleum Services, Houston, Texas)
• Rapporteur

8 November 2002

Session 5. Environmental Development
Chair: Robert Robelus (Africa Region, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.)

• Environmental Quality
  • "Biological Response to Environmental Changes in the Lower Mississippi River"
    Hank Bart (Tulane University)
  • "Assessing Priorities for Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta"
    
• Environmental Management
  • "Coastal Erosion and Restoration: The Coast 2050 Plan "
    Troy Constance (New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers)
  • "Developing an Environmental Management Plan for the Niger Delta"
    Telema Princewill (Environment Department, Niger Delta Development Commission)
• Environmental Justice
  • "The Norco Good Neighbor Initiative"
    David Brignac (Shell Chemical)*
  • "Environmental Justice in the Mississippi Delta"
    Beverly Wright (Deep Delta Center for Environmental Justice, Xavier University, New Orleans)
  • "Environmental Justice in the Niger Delta"
    Oronto Douglas (Environment Rights Action, Port Harcourt)*
• Rapporteur
  Phillip Jones (Xavier University)

Session 6. Social Development
Chair: Murray Jones (Social Performance, Shell International, London)

• Cultural Development
  • "Cultural Resources"
    Joan Exnicios (New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers)
  • "Cultural Heritage"
    Patrick Okosi (Concerned Communities, Trofani, Bayelsa State, Nigeria)
• Community Development
  • "The Mid-South Development Initiative"
    Freddye Webb-Pettet (Kellogg Foundation)
  • "Community Driven Development"
    Mark Tomlinson (The World Bank, Abuja)
• Institutional Development
  • "Institutional Development in the Mississippi Delta River"
    Jeffery Ballweber (Water Resources Research Institute, Mississippi State University)*
  • "The World Bank's Experience with Public Participation in African Development"
    Nightingale Rukuba-Ngaiza (The World Bank, Washington DC)
• Rapporteur

Session 7. Capacity Development
Chair: William Bertrand (Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, Tulane University)

• Knowledge for Development
  • "Knowledge Management"
    Gayatri Acharya (The World Bank Institute, Washington DC)*
• Information Transfer
  • "The Use of GIS in Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Controlled Rivers"
    Richard Campanella (Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities)
  • "Community Technology"
    David Moffat (DEKA R&D Corporation, Manchester, New Hampshire)
• Indigenous and Expert Knowledge
  • "Community Based Participatory Research"
    John Schoneboom (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
  • "The Niger Delta Project"
    Amy Emerhi (IAIA-Nigeria, Port Harcourt)
• Rapporteur

Session 8. Program Development
Chair: Mark Tomlinson (The World Bank, Abuja)

• Issues and Options
  • Moderator: Howard R. Bush (Planning, Programs & Project Management Division, New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers)
  • Session Rapporteurs
• Research Agenda
  • Alan Bornbusch (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
  • "The Niger Delta Initiative"
    Okechukwu Ibeanu (The MacArthur Foundation, Abuja)*
• Follow-Up
  • "The Future of the Mississippi Valley "
    John Saia (New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers)*
  • Godwin Omene (Niger Delta Development Commission)
  • Wendy Hughes (The World Bank, Abuja)
• Summary
  • C.P. Wolf (Social Impact Assessment Center)

*Invited

15 October 2002