Presidents Forum on Coastal Challenges, Coastal Change 03.20.07 175
Kerry St. Pe’
Program Director
Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
(504) 447-0868 (504) 447-0870 fax
kerry@btnep.org
Kerry St. Pé, for the past 10 years, has been the Executive Director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, a nationally recognized effort dedicated to preserving and restoring the 4.2 million-acre area between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers in Southeast Louisiana. He worked for 23 years as a Field Biologist and Regional Coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. He has conducted several major studies on the impacts of oilfield wastes on Louisiana wetlands as well as studies of clam shell dredging in several Louisiana lakes. He serves on numerous national, state and local advisory boards and is a frequent public speaker. His wetland restoration work has been featured in the best-selling book Bayou Farewell, The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast by Mike Tidwell, and most recently in the PBS documentary, Washing Away: Losing Louisiana. He grew up in Port Sulphur during the ‘50s and ‘60s, where the vast coastal marshes surrounding his home inspired him to become a marine biologist. He graduated from Nicholls State University in 1973.