Brittney Palode and Irvin Louque
Brittney Palode
Whooping Crane Outreach Assistant, International Crane Foundation
Brittney Palode has been working for the International Crane Foundation as the Whooping Crane Outreach Assistant for Louisiana since December 2023. Brittney received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in wildlife, fisheries, and aquaculture from Mississippi State University. She has a background in avian rehabilitation, wildlife monitoring, and social science. Brittney also has experience in outreach and education. Before her time at the International Crane Foundation, Brittney worked as an animal care specialist with birds and ambassador animals, and she participated in daily public feeding chats, ambassador animal presentations, animal encounters, and off-site outreach programs that allowed her to help people make connections with not only exotic animals from different countries, but also with wildlife people coexists with every day. Since joining ICF, Brittney has expanded ICF’s youth programming in core Whooping Crane areas, created post-program surveys to track program effectiveness, represented ICF at community events, and assisted in gunowner outreach. She continues to develop materials and programming to build community awareness and support for Whooping Cranes throughout their range in Louisiana.
Irvin Louque
Whooping Crane Outreach Coordinator, international Crane Foundation
Since 2021, Irvin Louque has been the International Crane Foundation’s Whooping Crane Outreach Coordinator in Louisiana. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Natural Resource Conservation and Management from McNeese State University. Previously, he created and led conservation projects and environmental education with the City of Lake Charles Recreation and Parks Department. Since joining ICF in 2021, Irvin has led the growth of the outreach program supporting the recovery of Whooping Cranes in Louisiana, particularly focusing on outreach to gunowners and hunters, raising awareness at community festivals, and educating rural youth.