Colin Rowan: Associate Instructor

Colin excels at crafting message strategy and preparing public interest advocates for a wide range of media opportunities. He has been quoted, placed the quotes of experts, and helped write op-eds in outlets including The New York Times, PBS, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight, as well as most major media outlets in Texas, where he currently resides. Colin has also conducted media training seminars and regularly speaks to public interest organizations about marketing principles, storytelling, message development, presenting skills and branding.

He joined Environmental Defense in 2002 and directed the organization's communications in Texas until 2003, when he moved to Washington, DC to help run the national communication office. “But it was cold there. Very, very cold,” he says, so he returned to the warmer confines of the Austin office where he resumed his work in Texas and also began managing Environmental Defense's communication efforts in California and North Carolina.

Prior to joining Environmental Defense, Colin served as Vice President at TateAustin, the largest independent public relations firm in Austin, where he managed the firm's technology PR division. Clients included Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Grande Communications, IBM, Texas.Net and Hart InterCivic. Prior to TateAustin, Colin served as Communication Director for Congressman Lloyd Doggett's campaign.

Most recently, Colin was selected by The Climate Project to train 1,000 citizen activists to present Al Gore's slide show on global warming (featured in “An Inconvenient Truth”) in their communities. In addition to conducting the training, he will also present the slideshow in venues across Central Texas throughout 2007.