Justin Ehrenwerth

Before moving to Louisiana, Ehrenwerth served as a member of Barack Obama’s White House legal team, including as Assistant Counsel to the president, leading litigation efforts after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Before that he served in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of General Counsel. Ehrenwerth, the leader of the Water Institute who was widely renowned as an expert in coastal policy, died on Thursday at age 44. He had struggled with mental illness and died by suicide, his family said in a statement. Ehrenwerth is survived by his wife, Dana Dupré, and two sons, Louis, 3, and Charles, 5.