Saturday, March 12, 2005 Lafayette, Louisiana

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana recognized four honorees as outstanding stewards of Louisiana's coast at the tenth annual Coastal Stewardship Awards Banquet on Saturday, March 12 at the River Oaks Event Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. Ms. Sue Hawes was this year's recipient of the Distinguished Achievement award. The Coalition was pleased to welcome Senator David Vitter as the keynote speaker for this event.

Sponsors of this year’s awards banquet were:

• Acadian Engineers & Environmental Consultants, Inc
• CH2M Hill
• Dan Arceneaux
• Delacroix Corporation
• Entergy Louisiana
• National Wildlife Federation
• PBS & J
• Shaw Coastal, Inc.
• T. Baker Smith and Son, Inc.
• URS Corporation
• Westbank Electric

Award Recipients for 2005

Ms. Sue Hawes, Distinguished Achievement

Ms. Sue Hawes received the Coalition's Distinguished Achievement award for her service as a Project Manager for the Environment with the New Orleans District Army Corps of Engineers. Hawes has served as an advisor to the CWPPRA Task Force and as co-chair of the Brown Marsh Scientific and Technical Committee. She currently serves as a Coalition board member and also serves as the Army Corps of Engineers representative for the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program.

Ms. Gabrielle Boudreaux Bodin

Ms. Gabrielle Boudreaux Bodin was awarded for her work as the Outreach Coordinator for the CWPPRA Task Force. As Outreach Coordinator, Ms. Bodin is responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of the outreach program for the CWPPRA Task Force. In her capacity as Outreach Coordinator, Bodin has attended numerous conferences and workshops throughout the state and the nation in an attempt to raise awareness about Louisiana's battle with coastal land loss. Bodin also serves as a liaison between various federal and state agencies as well as non-governmental organizations involved in the restoration mission.

Dr. Ehab Meselhe, Ph.D

Dr. Ehab Meselhe was awarded for his work as a member of the numeric-modeling sub-group of the LCA planning team. His modeling expertise has been instrumental in the development of an oil spill contingency planning tool for NOAA. Meselhe is the Director of the Center for Louisiana Inland Water Studies and is an Associate Professor with the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has served as a committee chair for the American Association of Civil Engineers and is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hydraulic Research.

Mr. Donald Lirette

Mr. Donald Lirette was awarded for his volunteer service with several coastal organizations including the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. In addition to his occupation as a fisherman and shrimper, Lirette has worked to help engage states in the Mississippi River Basin to deal with the hypoxia issue. He has served on the board of the Mississippi River Basin Alliance, the Terrebonne Fisherman's Organization and the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.