JTC 25: Rescuing Our Natural World

By the time he got to college, Christian Boudreaux already had a clear goal of what he wanted to do with his life: become a marine biologist and work to counteract climate change by improving conservation efforts and protecting the environment, particularly the oceans.

The Oxford native enrolled as a biology major at the University of Mississippi, taking on minors in Spanish, chemistry and environmental studies. He also dove into research projects, many of which took him to all corners of the world, and got involved in the community.

"Christian is a born leader," said Tamar Goulet, an Ole Miss biology professor who has mentored Boudreaux since high school. "He thinks through his objectives and lays out a plan, which he then executes. He is meticulously organized."

As a freshman, Boudreaux was surprised at the absence of marine-related service opportunities at Ole Miss. So he founded Aqua Culture, an organization that works around the Oxford community to maintain and preserve aquatic environments.

“The importance of environmental service became immediately clear to me as I endeavored to found an aquatic conservation organization to provide an avenue to physically connect with nature through service,” he said.

As president, Boudreaux planned projects to benefit protected environment areas, national forests and nature preserves. He organized student volunteers to help with invasive species removal, monitor water quality, plan trash cleanups and design educational events.

“It was in these roles that I honed my idea of how I want to conduct myself as a leader, the importance of planning ahead, the necessity of bridging gaps between multiple entities to see a project through to completion and the recognition of many life skills pertinent to my future as a scientist and conservationist,” he said.

He served as president of Hill Country Roots, a campus organization that works to preserve forests and native trees in Mississippi and provide educational events. In 2022, he coordinated volunteers to plant more than 2,000 trees.

Boudreaux began making his mark in research, but it took semesters of hard work before his efforts paid off, Goulet said.

"For the summer after his freshman year, Christian applied to multiple programs outside of Mississippi, but they did not materialize," she said. "One great lesson that we can learn from Christian is perseverance, dedication and drive. 

"Unfazed, Christian continued to amass research experiences at UM, and then he applied to various programs that piqued his interest.  Soon, the congratulatory e-mails started pouring in, offering Christian to participate in one amazing learning experience after another."

Boudreaux has worked in seven different labs on campus, studying topics ranging from computational chemistry to microbial competition dynamics.

As a freshman, he was awarded a Stamps Scholarship, which provided funding and opportunities to travel and study abroad. Over three semesters, he completed independent study projects in Ecuador, Zanzibar and Australia.

In Ecuador, he was based in the upper Amazon and used genetic barcoding to catalog the regions’ biodiversity; in Zanzibar, he conducted a coral bleaching survey; and in Australia, he worked at the Australian Institute of Marine Science on a coral probiotics project. He also traveled to Israel with Goulet to dive and study coral chimeras in the Red Sea.

He has published a peer-reviewed article in Aquaculture Reports and is working to co-author another manuscript for the West Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science. In addition, Boudreaux has published his work in student journals and in digital collections.

He is a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, where all students are required to complete a thesis project by their senior year. During his junior year, Boudreaux completed and defended two honors theses, one based on his studies of Gulf Coast oysters and another surveying biodiversity and identifying new candidate species to study in Ecuador.

His drive and passion for research helped him land both a Goldwater Scholarship and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hollings Scholarship, both competitive awards recognizing outstanding undergraduate research in STEM fields.

His Hollings internship took him to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facility in La Jolla, California, where Boudreaux researched leatherback sea turtle population genetics.

“Christian is truly one of the most honest, dedicate and humble individuals I have ever met,” said Whitney Woods, assistant director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement.

“His deeply rooted passion for our environment and creating change that will positively impact our world through education, science, collaboration, policy and conservation is evident in everything that he does.”

Boudreaux's commitment to leadership and public service earned him a coveted Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and his engagement in research, service, public policy and academic achievement landed him a Marshall Scholarship. The university awarded him a Taylor Medal, its highest academic honor for Ole Miss students.

He plans to use the latter to spend the next two years at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he will work toward two master’s degrees: one in marine systems and policies and the second in evolutionary genetics. After completing studies in the U.K., he plans to return to America to pursue a doctorate.

“The information generated from my studies will lay the groundwork for policy and management of ocean systems that will have tangible impacts for preserving the natural world,” he said. “The intersection of myself as a scientist and environmental activist is where I will have the most positive impact on the world and is what I will continue to work to achieve.”

Christian Boudreaux, a mulit-awarded scholar and passionate environmental advocate, combined research, service, and leadership at Ole Miss to pursue a career in marine conservation — a mission he’ll continue through postgraduate studies in the U.K. as a Marshall Scholar.Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services

See more photos from Christian Boudreaux's Journey to Commencement