U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Office of Public Affairs

NEWS RELEASE

Dr. Joseph V. Trahan, III, A.P.R., Fellow, PRSA, and a New Orleans native, was recently named the Public Affairs Officer for the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR), Minerals Management Service (MMS).  Dr. Trahan has more than twenty years of public relations/affairs experience in U.S. Government – U.S. Army, Department of Defense – universities, non-profits, and private industry.  Prior to returning to the U.S. Government, Dr. Trahan was the president and CEO of Trahan & Associates, a media relations, crisis, and risk communication training firm located in Covington.  In his new position, Dr. Trahan will direct the public affairs and communications efforts of MMS GOMR including the states of Florida, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi and the Atlantic States and supervise the Public Affairs staff.

Dr. Trahan began his Public Affairs career in 1981 where he graduated from the U.S. Department of Defense Information School (DINFOS).  Between 1981-1998, Dr. Trahan served in the U. S. Army and Army Reserve as a Public Affairs Officer.

Dr. Trahan retired from the U. S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 1998.  From 1997- 2003, he worked for DINFOS as a U. S. Department of Defense Media Relations and Mass Communications expert, Master Public Affairs Instructor and Chief of the Mobile Training Team.

Dr. Trahan’s professional awards, education and accomplishments include: A Ph.D. in Mass Communications from the University of Southern Mississippi, Accredited Public Relations Professional, selection to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) College of Fellows, M.A. in Public Relations from Ball State University, and a B.A. in American Military History from Tulane University.

Dr. Trahan is an adjunct professor of Public Relations at Tulane University and the University of Southern Mississippi.

MMS, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals while protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments through advanced science and technology research.  The OCS provides 30 percent of oil and 23 percent of natural gas produced domestically, and sand used for coastal restoration. MMS’s collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, with fiscal year 2004 disbursements of around $8 billion and more than $143 billion since 1982.  The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which pays for acquisition of state and federal park and recreation land, gets nearly $1 billion a year.

MMS Main Website:  www.mms.gov
Gulf of Mexico Website:  www.gomr.mms.gov

* * * MMS:  Securing Ocean Energy and Economic Value for America * * *