Kellyn LaCour-Conant

Kellyn LaCour-Conant
Citizenship	USA
Alma mater	Amherst College, Nicholls State
Occupation	Restoration Ecologist
Notable work	Native Plant and Oyster Shell Recycling Programs in Louisiana

Kellyn LaCour-Conant is a Creole restoration ecologist. Kellyn is a director of Habitat Restoration Programs at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL), a nonprofit of environmentalists working to restore Louisiana's coastline. She supports wetland restoration projects and environmental justice movements.

Given her environmental efforts and advocacy, LaCour-Conant was featured in the #IfThen Exhibit in 2021–2022 which celebrates women innovators in STEM.^[1]

Background

Kellyn LaCour-Conant grew up in Houston, Texas in a Catholic family.^[2] LaCour-Conant identifies as Two-Spirit and Afro-Indigenous, despite acknowledging that she is not an enrolled member of any federal tribe. LaCour-Conant is pansexual, uses she/they pronouns, identifies as mixed race, and began identifying as "two-spirit" as an adult.^[3] Hunting and fishing and learning about wildlife was part of her upbringing.^[4] Her family is from the Kisatchie Forest area in Louisiana and LaCour-Conant is part of the Isle Brevelle Creole community. As a teen, she was part of the Student Conservation Association, where she was able to support environmental work in Texas and around the United States.^[4][5]

She received a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Amherst College, and later a Master's degree in Marine and Environmental Biology from Nicholls State. Post-receiving her Masters, she worked for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority until 2020, where she focused on running community farms during the COVID-19 pandemic. LaCour-Conant formerly worked as the Director of Habitat Restoration Programs with the Coalition to Restore Central Louisiana (CRCL) where she led the Native Plant and Oyster Shell Recycling Programs.^[5][6] LaCour-Conant is a Ph.D. student in Urban Forestry at Southern University.^[6]

LaCour-Conant is a youth mentor with the AAAS If/Then program.^[6] Advocacy is part of her work including in 2020 being on the CBS television series Mission Unstoppable and taking part in the social media campaign #StaySafeForScience for the CDC Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Center to Health Security.^[7] In 2022 the Lyda Hill Philanthropies created an exhibition of 120 statues of contemporary women innovators in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and LaCour-Conant was in this exhibition.^[1]

She is now serving as a Climate Strategist with Taproot Earth.

^[4]

Coalition to Restore Central Louisiana (CRCL)

As the Director of the Restoration Program at CRCL, LaCour-Conant operated Louisiana's largest oyster-shell recycling program by partnering with over 20 New Orleans restaurants to recycle shells and use them to restore coastal habitats. She also designed the organization's Community Arts Living Shoreline (C.A.L.S.) initiative, in partnership with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program. ^[8]

Using the recycled shells provided from their restaurant partners, the organization creates oyster reefs to protect wetlands from wave and shoreline erosion and to provide habitats to support plant and marine life.^[8] From 2014–2021, the program has been able to recycle over 70,000 sacks of shells, or 10 million pounds. This has built more than "7,000 feet of oyster reef living shoreline in Biloxi March, Barataria Bay, Pointe-au-Chien and Adam's Bay."^[9]

References

1. "#IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit". If Then Exhibit. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
2. "Indigenous Ecologist Reflects on Mental Health, Purpose Through Dreams". Interfaith America. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
3. "Profiles in Science Engagement with Faith Communities". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
4. "| IF/THEN® Collection". IF/THEN Collection. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
5. "Kellyn LaCour-Conant, MSc Tales from the Trail: Adventures in Restoration Ecology – McWane Science Center". Retrieved 2022-11-17.
6. Kline, Rachel. "Kellyn LaCour-Conant". AAAS - DoSER. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
7. Bergeron, Judy (2020-06-05). "Making a splash: Look for Baton Rouge wetlands ecologist on 'Mission Unstoppable' Saturday". The Advocate. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
8. Hardy, Elle. "Louisiana's coastline is rapidly deteriorating. A nonprofit is teaming up with restaurants to rebuild it using recycled oyster shells". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
9. Wilkinson, Missy (2021-11-26). "Want to protect the coast? There's a new oyster shell recycling drop-off site in New Orleans". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.