CRCL Announces New Members of Coastal Advisory Council

NEW ORLEANS (press release) — The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana has added 12 new members to its Coastal Advisory Council, a leadership group formed to connect the nonprofit to experts in a variety of different fields. These advisers will help CRCL advance its mission to unite people in action to achieve a thriving, sustainable Louisiana coast for all. Members of the CAC serve three-year terms.

CRC is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to fighting coastal land loss. It advocates for large-scale restoration projects, operates a oyster shell recycling program, plants trees and other vegetation, and trains the next generation of coastal professionals through its Future Coastal Leaders program.  

“CRCL’s Coastal Advisory Council is an influential and diverse group of leaders who strengthen our organization and ensure a brighter future for our coast,” said Kim Reyher, executive director at CRCL. “We are proud to welcome these new members, and we look forward to working with them on the priorities that are important to them and their communities.”   

The new members of the Coastal Advisory Council are:

• Rene Escuriex, the environmental operations leader at C.H. Fenstermaker.
• Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, a member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian tribe who is clinical professor of law, the faculty director of the Indian Legal Program and the director of the Indian Legal Clinic at Arizona State University.
• Jonathan Foret, executive director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center.
• Marie Gould, founder of Lost Lands Tours.
• Pamela Jenkins, a professor emeritus at the University of New Orleans who is a founding member of UNO’s Center for Hazard Assessment, Response and Technology.
• Jacqueline Richard, director of coastal studies at Nunez Community College.
• Mark Schexnayder, senior biologist at Batture Consulting.
• Peter Sclafani, a chef and cookbook author who is co-owner of Ruffino’s and Ruffino’s on the River.
• Beau Tate, senior project engineer at Royal Engineers and Consultants.
• Aimee Thomas, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Loyola University. 
• Whitney Thompson, principal engineer at Southern Shores Engineering.
• Peter Waggonner, public policy manager at Greater New Orleans Inc.

They join the following CAC members whose terms are carrying over:

• Lanor Curole, director/administrator of United Houma Nation.
• Jessica Dandridge, executive director of the Water Collaborative.
• Troy Gilbert, a writer who is the founder and executive director of Chefs Brigade New Orleans.
• Robert Gorman, a founding member of CRCL who served as the organization’s first chair and was a longtime Board member, and who is the retired director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
• Barbara Johnson, founder and proprietor of the Great Delta Tours.
• Brent McCrossen, an entrepreneur who is managing director of Revelry Startup Studio and founder of linen shirt maker RNKL.
• David Muth, the retired Gulf program director at the National Wildlife Federation.
• Niki Pace, an attorney at Louisiana Sea Grant.
• Ellen Ball, a community leader in New Orleans and on Avery Island and a former member of the CRCL Board of Directors.
• Robin Barnes, an economic recovery and resilience expert who operates Resilience Resolutions in New Orleans.
• Angela Chalk, the founder and executive director of Healthy Community Services in New Orleans.
• Mark Davis, the director of the Tulane University Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy and Tulane ByWater Institute and the former executive director of CRCL.
• Reggie Dupre, the former executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District in Houma, the president of Bourg Supermarket Inc. and a former state lawmaker.
• Al DuVernay, a fisherman, retired paleontologist at Shell and former CRCL volunteer of the year.
• Tina Freeman, a photographer whose work is included in permanent collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Paris), the National Media Museum (Bradford, UK), the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Luiciano Benetton Imago Mundi Collection in Italy.
• Albertine Kimble, who is retired after working in Plaquemines Parish government for 30 years, including as local coastal programs manager. She is a member of the parish’s Coastal Zone Advisory Board.
• Ryan Lambert, the founder of Cajun Fishing Adventures in Buras and Venice.
• Walter Leger III, a lawyer, senior vice president for strategic affairs and general counsel for New Orleans & Co. and former speaker pro tempore in the state House.
• Steve Mathies, the coastal restoration and resilience practice leader for the Southeast region at Stantec and former director of CPRA.
• Tim Matte, a CPA and the former mayor of Morgan City.
• Norma Mattei, a UNO civil engineering professor, former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Mississippi River Commission.
• John Morello, vice president of product, container and serverless security at Palo Alto Networks, a board member for the Coastal Conservation Association and a former member and chair of the CRCL Board.
• Sandy Nguyen, founder and executive director of Coastal Communities Consulting and a former consultant for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center.
• Denise Reed, a research professor at the University of New Orleans who helped develop Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan.
• Jennifer Sherrod-Blackwell, founder and owner of Elysian Seafood and Elysian Events Catering in New Orleans and a restaurant partner in CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program.
• Robert Thomas, director of the Center for Environmental Communication at Loyola University, the founding director of the Louisiana Nature Center and a former member of the CRCL board.
• Jim Tripp, who is retired from the Environmental Defense Fund, where he served as general counsel. He was a founding member of CRCL and is a former CRCL Board member.
• Darilyn Turner, executive director of the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center and a member of the Plaquemines Parish School Board.