BTNEP welcomes Nicki Boudreaux as New Education and Engagement Coordinator

Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) is pleased to announce that Nicki Boudreaux has been named the Education and Engagement Coordinator of BTNEP.

“Nicki’s knowledge, energy, and unique combination of both higher education and environmental communication experience will undoubtedly help BTNEP in our mission to educate our next generation and engage more people in the solutions to solve the issues facing our estuary,” said Bren Haase, BTNEP Director. “We’re excited she’s joining our team.”

Nicki Lirette Boudreaux was born and raised along Bayou Lafourche in Paincourtville, Louisiana. A 1994 graduate from Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Boudreaux went on to Nicholls State University, where she received a bachelor’s in Mass Communication with specialties in Public Relations and Print Journalism in 1998.

Boudreaux started her career as a public relations practitioner in healthcare, working at both Terrebonne General Health System and Thibodaux Regional Health System. In 2001, she returned to her alma mater to serve as the Director of Student Publications, where she advised the campus newspaper and yearbook, both of which she had worked on as a student. After receiving her master’s in communications from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Boudreaux became a full-time faculty member in the department of Mass Communication at Nicholls, eventually rising to the rank of Assistant Professor. For a total of 24 years, she taught and advised in various capacities and received several awards for support of and service to students. Most recently, she served as the Director of the Nancy Sanderson Matherne Institute for Global Communications and created the environmental communications curriculum. She has presented globally about a variety of topics, including Louisiana’s coastal crisis.

Boudreaux’s involvement with BTNEP began in 2016 when she was asked to co-chair the Sustained Recognition and Citizen Involvement section of the BTNEP Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. For over a decade, she has provided environmental and public relations consulting services for local non-profit environmental clients, including BTNEP for several years.

Michelle Felterman, BTNEP Deputy Director, shared, “Nicki’s passion and commitment to BTNEP’s mission are evident as soon as you meet her. She will be a great resource to the program and the communities we serve, and we’re excited to welcome her to the team.”

“This opportunity is a beautiful combination of my two biggest passions: environmental education and telling the story of our treasured home,” Boudreaux said. “I am honored to join the incredible BTNEP staff, and I am excited to get started!”