Paul Orr
Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper/Communications Director
Paul earned his Mass Communications degree from Louisiana State University. He worked for LEAN as a communications intern during college and has directed LEAN’s communications efforts since 2003. Paul maintains LEAN’s membership and media databases. While documenting LEAN’s work, Paul has created a photo journal of south Louisiana’s environmental journey.
In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita Paul produced a pictorial record of the documented the devastation from both storms. He also took on the daunting task of researching personal protective gear to be distributed, and oversaw the storage and distribution of direct relief supplies and the personal protective gear. Another of his activities was the development of educational material to be distributed to hurricane victims and relief workers.
Paul is the official Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper/LMRK (www.lmrk.org
). Paul has represented LMRK at all Waterkeeper Alliance functions and hosted the Waterkeeper Alliance’s 2006 annual meeting in New Orleans.
During the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Paul closely monitored response activities and the ensuing impact to the coastal wetlands and marshes. Once the spewing oil had been stopped and the well sealed, Paul began sampling activities to document the impact that the oil and chemical dispersants had on aquatic life and coastal vegetation. Throughout the disaster Paul issued regular, if not daily, e-alerts which up dated the status of the disaster and provided accurate and current information. Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper is a member of Save Our Gulf (www.saveourgulf.org).
