Captain Wendy Wilson Billiot
In 1978 I moved from north Louisiana to south Louisiana to work as a Roustabout and fell in love with the water, the people, the culture and way of life. I married a Houma Indian in 1981 and have lived on the Bayou ever since.
While rearing five children, I wrote my first book, eventually becoming a Freelance Writer, Photographer, Public Speaker, Wetland Educator, Wetland Tour Guide, Charter Fishing Captain, and Radio Show Guest Host. I became “The Bayou Woman” (though I suspect it was always in me).
My Book:
Before the Saltwater Came and its companion, Guidebook for Educators
Recipient of a 2015 Coaltion to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) Coastal Stewardship Award
Louisiana Outdoor Writer Association Awards received:
- 2016 – Excellence in Craft – A Banner Year for the Bayou Woman:
- 1st Place Book
- 1st Place Magazine Short
- 1st Place Electronic
- 2nd Place Electronic
- 2nd Place Broadcast
- 3rd Place Broadcast
- 3rd Place Newspaper (First year I’ve written for a newspaper!!!)
- 2015 – Excellence in Craft 1st place Electronic and 2nd place in Magazine Short Feature
- 2014 – Excellence in Craft 1st place in Magazine Regular Feature, Magazine Short Feature, and Electronic Categories
- 2013 – Excellence in Craft 1st place in Electronic Category
- 2012 – Excellence in Craft 3rd place in Coastal Restoration and Electronic Categories
- 2011 – Excellence in Craft 3rd place in Coastal Restoration Category
- 2010 – Three Excellence in Craft Awards
- 2009 – Excellence in Craft 3rd Place “Tenacity over Tears”
- 2008 – Excellence in Craft 3rd Place “Women and Fishing”
- 2007 – Excellence in Craft 1st Place “Terrebonne’s Natural Defenses Nearly Gone”
Ongoing Projects:
Eco Tours of local wetlands. My US Coast Guard License enables me to transport passengers to see the amazing beauty and shameful degradation of our wetlands due to oil exploration, drilling, and production or to plant marsh grass on local restoration projects.
BTNEP’s Prothonotary Warbler Conservation and Monitoring program. 2017-2018
Civic/Professional Organizations:
- 2009-2013 State Commissioner for the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center
- 2010 – 2015 Parish Coastal Zone Management Board Member
- 2009 – present Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association – Membership Chairman
- 2013 – 2017 Keep Terrebonne Beautiful Executive Director
Grants received:
- 2005-2006 Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) Mini-grants recipient
Projects undertaken:
- BOEMRE Subsistence Hunting, Fishing, and Gathering research project 2011-2012
- BTNEP Swamp Tour Operators’ Outreach Project – 2006
- Authored the America’s Wetland Campaign Activity Guide – 2004. Download and print a copy from here.
Anything else you want to know? Contact me!