With the 2025-2026 school year coming to an end, professors are reflecting on the changes they’ve witnessed within their classes, departments, and schoolwide.
Veronica Del Bianco, professor and instructor for the Environment Program, taught multiple classes this year, including one of her favorites, Foundations of Environmental Studies.
“There were days when the class was locked in and engaged in debate as well as creative projects like the Invasive Species Cookbook,” she said.
The Invasive Species Cookbook provides various recipes that include invasive species in Louisiana, promoting individuals to eat more foods with those species to help with their population control.
Additionally, Del Bianco is excited to see how next year turns out, as it is the 100th anniversary of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which was the most destructive river flood in the history of the country.
“I look forward to reflecting on how that event shaped New Orleans’ relationship with water to this day,” said Del Bianco.
Another professor, Robert Thomas, who is also a director of the Center for Environmental Communication, is retiring next year and has seen significant changes to the university throughout his time at Loyola.
Looking back at this year, he believes that the school is going in the right direction.
“I think we’ve had a really good year, and I think our new leader has done an exceptional job,” said Thomas.
SCD’s new director is Shaniece Bickham, who Thomas believes is making an amazing impact on the college.
“She came in and kind of took the bull by the horns and started riding in the rodeo,” he said.
According to Thomas, all three departments in the college went through an intense re-evaluation, and after putting the results in motion last year, the college was able to thrive this school year.
Thomas also praises the student engagement he saw this year, as he noted that these students are “very serious about what they’re doing.” The last few years he’s been teaching, he realized that students now simply have a different learning style than the generations before.
“We’ve been coming to terms with Gen Z’s learning style, and I think my Gen Z students are coming to terms with their learning style,” he said.
One of Thomas’s favorite classes was Environmental Communications because of how it’s a “thought class” that promotes discussion on certain environmental cases, where companies went wrong and where they went right.
“It’s about how your brain works and how you approach information and how you grasp mainstream thinking and things like that,” he said. “So it’s not a textbook-type course.”
Biology-wise, he loved teaching Delta Ecology, which focused on ecosystems in and around marshes. However, his favorite part wasn’t the biology but the introduction of other studies into the course. According to Thomas, he introduced physics, religion, criminology, and more to educate students on the other factors important to helping the environment.
“You’ve got to understand how social systems affect citizens. And why do some people fight for things that are good and other people are saying that the answer to the environmental problems?” Thomas said.
Although Thomas is going to retire next school year, he still plans on being involved in the Loyola community and his research, updating his website continuously and providing lectures for students from time to time.
“People say, ‘what are you gonna do when you retire?’ and I say, ‘the same thing I’ve always done, but I won’t be grading papers,” he said.
Thomas then reflected on the additional faculty at Loyola who have made it the space it is today.
“I think we’ve got really good professors right now helping the students,” Thomas said.
