Meet Cynthia Duet

Cynthia Duet joined the National Audubon Society’s Louisiana Coastal Initiative team in November 2010. In her role as director of governmental relations, Cynthia will be interacting with government agencies and coastal stakeholders at local, state, and federal levels to advocate for next-generation, science-based coastal policy and for the design, funding, and construction of bold and effective coastal restoration projects that protect and restore this valuable ecosystem.

A native of Louisiana, Cynthia has more than a decade of experience in Louisiana coastal policy development, strategic planning, and project management. She came to Audubon from the Louisiana governor’s office, where she was deputy director of the Office of Coastal Activities. In this role, she served as liaison to the Louisiana legislature and as staff lead for the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation and several independent technical review panels. Former employers also include the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, ARCADIS-US, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cynthia holds a degree in wildlife conservation and management from Louisiana Tech University and has worked in both the public and private sectors as a business development director, environmental educator, technical specialist, and manager.

Cynthia says: “Since my first job assisting biologists with sensitive and endangered bird surveys for the U.S. Forest Service, I learned early and have come to understand and value the critical connections between wildlife, habitat, and anthropogenic land use and management, both public and private. We are all connected to the ecosystem, and though multiple users with a variety of interests live and work in key ecosystems around the world, I believe that through public awareness and education, strategic partnerships, and policy, most, if not all users of the landscape can achieve their conservation, restoration and financial goals. I look forward to promoting Audubon’s initiatives and am thrilled to work for an organization whose goals for the environment align so closely with my own.”