Overview
Principal and Managing Director, Doug Coenen, has been selected as the 2019 Greens Bayou Coalition Volunteer of the Year. As a leader in Walter P Moore Houston’s Civil Engineering Group, Coenen focuses his expertise primarily on commercial, energy, government, healthcare, higher education, and park projects.
The Greens Bayou Coalition is an organization that promotes resilience, economic development, and quality of life in the Greens Bayou watershed. Coenen has been actively involved for five years and is a member of the Trails Committee serving as Vice Chair. “One of our main purposes is to protect and preserve Greens Bayou, promoting the usage of the bayou for recreation,” he adds. Greens Bayou also hosts numerous cleanup events as well as canoe tours.
One of the key initiatives Coenen has been instrumental in is the 7.5-mile Greens Bayou Regatta Race, which raises money for development projects. “Creating the regatta has allowed companies, groups, and individuals to have fun and enjoy kayak/canoe racing while investing in natural areas,” he explains. In 2019, the event raised $13,760 for the proposed 27.5-mile Greens Bayou Paddle Trail.
About Doug
An avid outdoorsman himself and self-proclaimed “health nut,” Coenen enjoys running, swimming, and various forms of exercise. One of his favorite pastimes is launching his kayak out on Lake Houston. When vacationing, he and his daughter Bella always try to find prime scuba diving spots. When he’s not on the lake or organizing a regatta, or serving on the board of ACEC Houston, he’s on the sidelines coaching his daughters in track & field—with a focus in sprinting.
Having grown up in Virginia and living in Yorktown, becoming a history buff seemed like destiny for Coenen. He is inspired when reading about different historical figures, learning about what they did and the impacts they had on the world around them—one of his favorites being Teddy Roosevelt who, among other things, was a conservationist creating federal parks. Many of these historical heroes are not unlike those that volunteer their time, energy, and expertise in protecting and preserving nature’s most beautiful and secluded waterways today.
