Meet the Executive Staff
LDWF Secretary - Robert Shadoin
Robert Shadoin is an attorney who recently left the Louisiana Legislature where he represented the 12 th District in the Louisiana House of Representatives.
His district included Lincoln and Union parishes. Shadoin is a graduate of Ruston High. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Louisiana Tech University and a law degree from the LSU Law Center. He served as Ruston City Attorney from 1991-1994 and from 1994-2006, he was a member of the Lincoln Parish School Board.
LDWF Assistant Secretary/Wildlife - Randy Myers
Randy Myers, from Franklinton, Louisiana, was named Assistant Secretary/Wildlife in 2016.
Myers, who has an undergraduate degree in wildlife from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in wetlands ecology from Southeastern Louisiana University, has held several positions at LDWF, both in fisheries and wildlife. Myers has served as the inland fisheries manager and North American Wetlands Conservation Act biologist and directed the land acquisition and Wildlife Management Area programs, among other jobs. Myers now oversees the Wildlife Division, which is charged with enhancing and conserving the habitat necessary to maintain the state’s species diversity and optimum distribution of wildlife populations.
LDWF Assistant Secretary/Fisheries - Patrick Banks
Patrick Banks was appointed Assistant Secretary/Fisheries in 2016.
Prior to that, he served in multiple roles with LDWF since 2001 including head marine biologist for the Pontchartrain Basin prior to Hurricane Katrina, as the statewide oyster biologist for nearly 14 years, and most recently as biologist director of the Marine Fisheries Section. Banks hails from Georgia and holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Mercer University and a M.S. in Zoology from Louisiana State University. He has served as a member of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Oyster Technical Task Force and the Nature Conservancy’s Oyster Goals Science Advisory Team, and currently serves as the Governor’s representative on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. In his current role with LDWF, Banks oversees all fisheries-related operations and is charged with managing the state’s marine and freshwater fish populations and habitats for the conservation and improvement of recreational and commercial fishing.
LDWF Undersecretary - Bryan McClinton
Bryan McClinton has been with LDWF since 2008 and has served as Undersecretary since 2013. He oversees the Office of Management and Finance (OMF), which is responsible for fiscal and human resource management, licensing, procurement and general administrative services. The OMF was awarded the Louisiana Performance Excellence award Level 1 in 2019, becoming the first state Agency to receive the honor. McClinton, a native of Livonia, LA, previously served as a budget manager for the Louisiana Department of Corrections. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Louisiana State University, and Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in New Orleans.
Enforcement Division Colonel - Rachel Zechenelly
Col. Rachel Zechenelly was promoted to Colonel, the highest position in LDWF’s Enforcement Division, in June of 2023.
Col. Zechenelly completed the LDWF Cadet Academy in 2000. Named Lt. Colonel in 2020, Zechenelly oversaw the administrative side of the Enforcement division, including the budget, joint enforcement agreement program, training, recruiting section and communications to name a few of her duties.. She served as major from 2014 until her promotion to Lt. Colonel and was put in charge of emergency services, maritime and homeland security, policy and procedure, and supervisor of half of the patrol regions across the state. She was also named the state’s safe boating law administrator during this time. She also served as an enforcement captain from 2010-2014, an enforcement lieutenant from 2008-2010, an enforcement sergeant from 2005-2010 and an enforcement senior agent from 2000-2005. Zechenelly, from Pearl River, has earned numerous awards during her LDWF career. She has been honored with the LDWF Meritorious Service Award (2005, 2011, 2016, 2017, and 2021), named Statewide LDWF Agent of the Year (2008), and LDWF Chief’s Award (2022).
General Counsel - Cole Garrett
LDWF’s Legislative Liaison and Policy Attorney since 2010, Cole Garrett oversees legislative, policy and legal matters for the Secretary. Prior to his employment with LDWF, he served as a clerk for the Honorable Guy Holdrige. Garrett holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law School.
Press Secretary - Ed Pratt
LDWF’s Press Secretary since October 2016, Ed Pratt oversees most of the agency’s engagement with local, state and national news media, works with some in-house and public presentations and publications. Pratt, who has a B.A. in Journalism from Southern University, has held media director positions at three government agencies in Louisiana. He has been a reporter and editor at newspapers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Orlando, Florida.
He has won a number of reporting awards, most notably from the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Institute for Southern Studies and The Associated Press.