Jean Cowan

About Jean

• I loved being outdoors and was passionate about the environment, so I knew I wanted to make a career out of that.
• I earned my bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia, followed by a master’s degree in marine sciences from the University of South Alabama.
• I spent time working at marine research stations doing water quality research—I liked collecting data but I wanted to move into the management aspect and learn to make decisions about the data.
• I moved to Louisiana in 2001 and got the opportunity to work for the state at the main agency working on the massive land loss issue.
• When the BP oil spill happened in 2010, the entire Gulf of Mexico was affected, causing all five Gulf states to jump into restoration work.
• I now work for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council where I collaborate with others to conduct large-scale, multi-purpose, multi-agency ecosystem restoration.