Nunez Coastal Studies Program Chair Names CERF Outstanding Educator for 2025

The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) has recognized Nunez Coastal Studies and GIS Technology Program Chair Jacqueline Richard with the 2025 William A. Niering Award for Outstanding Educator.

The CERF website describes Niering Award winners as “an individual who has played a particularly important role in education at any level–from primary school to the graduate level, inside or out of the classroom, or in the education of the general public through outreach activities.”

The awards ceremony is scheduled for November in Richmond, Va.

“Receiving this honor from my students and peers is truly the greatest gift I could conceive,” said Richard. “For the past 18 years, it has been my privilege to teach and cheer on many amazing students and grow alongside my colleagues. Our coastal environment is both fragile and breathtaking, and I feel incredibly grateful to share its beauty and wonder every day.”

Richard has led the Coastal program at Nunez Community College in Chalmette since 2022 and has taught in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System since 2007. Since joining Nunez, she has been a regular at regional events—recreational, educational and professional—promoting and representing the Coastal program. She boasts an impressive resume that includes the following:

• Chair for Louisiana’s Environmental Education Commission
• Lead author of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act’s Watermarks360 projects, a middle school place-based curriculum focused on coastal restoration projects
• Lead instructor for the Mississippi River Delta Institute, a K-12 teacher professional development focused on our environmental and coastal issues
• Co-teacher for the Mississippi River Institute, K-12 teacher professional development in Minnesota
• Curriculum writer for the Youth Wetlands Program, focusing on high school place-based curriculum regarding coastal issues
• Co-author of the Chefs Brigade environmental culinary curriculum
• Two-time panelist at the Restore America’s Estuaries Conference
• Panelist at the State of the Coast Conference
• Program committee member for the State of the Coast Conference
• Coastal Advisory Council member for Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which also presented Richard with a Coastal Stewardship Award in 2024

In January, Nunez Coastal students and Richard were on hand as one of several organizations to partner with NFL Green ahead of Superbowl LIX in New Orleans to take part in the Leeville oyster reef restoration.

Her work with both Nunez’s Coastal program and Wind Energy Technology program has drawn media attention, with Richard recently appearing on Louisiana Coastal Cooking from WYES New Orleans to take viewers cypress tree monitoring in Violet, and guesting on the Grow Louisiana Coalition’s Makin’ Energy podcast.

Richard has also created opportunities for coastal voices, developing Coastal Pathways Day, a coastal career-focused day for college and high school students, and inviting local experts from the environmental sector to speak at Nunez’s inaugural State of the St. Bernard Fishery Conference in May.

Students can register now to learn from Richard during the Fall 2025 semester. Visit Nunez.edu to apply for the Coastal Studies and GIS Technology program, the Wind Energy Technology program, or any of the 20-plus academic and career programs at Nunez. Classes begin Aug. 19.

From CERF

The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) Achievement Awards recognize excellence in and service to the fields of coastal and estuarine science, management, and education through eight awards given biennially. The recipients of these awards embody the mission of CERF to advance understanding and wise stewardship of estuarine and coastal ecosystems worldwide by promoting research in estuarine and coastal ecosystems; supporting the education of scientists, decision makers and the public; and facilitating communication among these groups.

The 2025 CERF Achievement Awards and Recipients are listed below. More information about the awards and recipients, including past recipients, can be found at:
https://cerf.memberclicks.net/2025-achievement-award-recipients.

• Odum Award for Lifetime Achievement – Ángel Borja, Principal Investigator, AZTI (Spain), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)
• Cronin Award for Early Achievement – Kathryn Beheshti, Assistant Researcher, University of California Santa Barbara
• Niering Award for Outstanding Educator – Jacqueline Richard, Director of Coastal Studies & GIS Technology, Nunez Community College
• Pritchard Outstanding Physical Oceanography Paper Award – Hemanth Vundavilli, Research Associate, Louisiana State University; Julia C. Mullarney, Associate Professor, University of Waikato; and Iain T. MacDonald, Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Scientist, New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, for their paper “The Influence of River Plume Discharge and Winds on Sediment Transport into a Coastal Mangrove Environment,” Estuaries and Coasts, 47(5), 1236-1254 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01367-2
• Davidson Award for Individual Stewardship Achievement – Pamela Borne Blanchard, Associate Professor, Louisiana State University
• Coastal Stewardship Award for Organizational Stewardship Achievement – The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Champion Award – Kim de Mutsert, Associate Professor, University of Southern Mississippi
• Distinguished Service Award – Paul Montagna, Endowed Chair for HydroEcology, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi

Awards are presented every two years; the 2025 CERF Awards Ceremony will be held Sunday, 9 November 2025 at the 28th Biennial Conference to be held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

The Distinguished Service Award recipient is selected by the CERF President; all other recipients are selected by award committees. The Federation thanks our 2025 Achievement Awards Committee chair as well as all the subcommittee chairs and committee members for their tireless efforts to recruit and select the outstanding recipients of this year’s awards. CERF also thanks the nominators and letter writers that supported the many exceptional nominations received this year.

About CERF
The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing the understanding and wise stewardship of estuarine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Members of the Federation include students, researchers, resource managers, policy makers, and educators representing academic and research institutions, government, industry and consulting, and non-governmental organizations. CERF publishes the scholarly journal Estuaries and Coasts, and the CERF Biennial Conference is recognized as the premier conference on the science and management of coastal and estuarine systems and resources. Learn more about CERF at [cerf.science]cerf.science.

About Nunez Community College
Nunez Community College is a student-centered institution that delivers relevant and innovative curricula integrating the arts, sciences, and humanities leading to academic credentials and workforce opportunities. Nunez serves a vital role in the community by engaging with partners to support student success and personal growth. Nunez Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate degrees. Nunez Community College also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of Nunez Community College may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA  30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org). Nunez is located at 3710 Paris Road, Chalmette, LA. For more information, visit www.nunez.edu.