Board of Supervisors
Andrea Bridgewater
Supervisory District Conservationist for
LARU 09
Andrea was raised in a small yet might city located in northeast Louisiana named Tallulah, LA. She decided to follow in her father’s footsteps of pursuing a career in agriculture, so she attended Southern University Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she attained her bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences with a concentration in Animal, Plant, and Soil Sciences. She currently serves as the Supervisory District Conservationist of Louisiana Resource Unit 09 (LARU 09) for the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDANRCS) where she oversees Lafayette, St. Martin, Pointe Coupee, Livingston, East Baton Rouge, and West Baton Rouge parishes. Andrea has a genuine commitment to making a positive impact on our community. She has a passion for team building, providing great customer service to both internal and external customers, and more than anything seeing the conservation success of the state’s producers. This is why she takes great pride in working for the USDA-NRCS. She plans to continue to enhance her conservation planning skills to fulfill her duty of Helping People, Help the Land. In her free time, Andrea enjoys spending time with her family. She is the proud mother of 5 amazing children name Mikayla, Anthony II, Micah, and twins Paityn and Madisyn.
Katherine (Kat) Wilder
District Secretary
Kat grew up in Lake Arthur, LA and was a 1973 graduate of Lake Arthur High School. She married in 1975 to Clyde Wilder and moved to Lafayette where she worked in various trades from desk clerk at a hotel to secretarial positions. She also worked as a secretary-bookkeeper & over the counter sales at a commercial ceiling & flooring contractor, was a dispatcher at a commercial mechanical contractor, where she was commissioned as a Notary Public in 1993 domiciled in Lafayette Parish. She then ventured to become a realtor in 1995 and continues to pursue real estate as a secondary income. Her position as District Secretary for the Lafayette Soil & Water Conservation District began as part time in 2011, which eventually became a full-time position taking on the duties of both the Lafayette SWCD and St. Martin SWCD until June 2023. She is currently District Secretary for Lafayette SWCD. Kat has 3 children and 10 grandchildren. Her favorite hobby was fishing with her best friend and husband.
Lafayette/St. Martin
SWCD Technician
Mike has 43 years working with LSWCD solving drainage problems, erosion, land leveling, designing fishponds, crawfish ponds, livestock practices, irrigation practices, wildlife practices and a large variety of conservation practices.
Mike enjoys fishing and spending time with his grandchildren.
Sean Troy
Natural Resources Specialist
Sean Troy is originally from New Jersey. He then lived in Colorado and North Carolina before moving to Louisiana in the Fall of 2022. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Geoscience and a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Natural Resource Management. Sean has worked for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the US Forest Service before joining the NRCS as a Soil Conservation Technician and then a Natural Resource Specialist. Sean enjoys hiking, kayaking, and taking his dog on walks.
Terrell Rabalais
Natural Resources Specialist
Terrell is a native of Simmesport, LA where he grew up on a Diversified farm of Soybeans, Corn, Milo, Cattle and a Farrow to Finish Swine operation. Terrell has been involved with agriculture throughout his entire life, from growing up on the family farm to showing animals in 4-H and being a part of his high school Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. He is a graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana, USL, Agricultural Program. He has been employed with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) since November 3, 1991. Terrell has worked several positions and field offices throughout the state. He has worked from the Macon Ridge of North Louisiana to coastal restoration on Timbalier Island in Terrebonne parish. Mr. Rabalais has been a resident of Lafayette since his college years in 1988 and continues to love and enjoy the city he calls home.
Chris Adams
Associate Board Member
Chris Adams holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in sustainability, with a focus on community development and local food systems. He helped establish and operate Earthshare Gardens, a small-scale vegetable farm in Lafayette, and Acadiana Food Alliance, a food-system policy and support organization and for many years worked for the city-parish government of Lafayette in the Community Development & Planning Department. Chris excels in collaborative initiatives, relationship building, comprehensive and strategic planning, and effecting change.
Christopher Holland
Lafayette/St. Martin SWCD 319 Project Technician
Christopher is a native of Lafayette, Louisiana and a graduate of the University of Louisiana’s Environmental Science program. Holland, who previously worked at Bayou Vermilion District and LCG Development and Planning, started with the Lafayette and St Martin SWCD as a Soil & Water Conservation Technician (319) in May of 2023. Chris enjoys being able to set a good example for his two young sons as a conservationist of our precious natural resources through his work with the district.