In Memoriam - HRI's Mourns the Loss of Communications Manager Nikki Buskey
The Institute is saddened to announce the sudden passing of HRI Communications Manager Nikki Buskey on January 18th, 2022.
Nikki came to the Harte Research Institute in January 2015 after an award-winning career in environmental journalism and communications in southern Louisiana. Through her writing, Nikki was able to weave HRI’s science and research into a narrative that inspired colleagues, peers, and the community. She was the founding member of the HRI Communications team and became the voice of HRI, working closely with the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Marketing and Communications Department. Nikki was integral in growing the HRI Communications team as well as valuable relationships on campus and with media outlets state-wide and nationally.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor’s in English and Government in 2006, she worked as an environmental reporter for newspapers in Houma, Louisiana and later in marketing and communications for Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana before coming to HRI. She covered subjects from land loss, commercial fisheries, coastal restoration efforts, and disasters including hurricanes and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Nikki’s passion about sharing stories of the Gulf coast was formed at an early age while growing up in Port Aransas, Texas. She was the daughter of Dr. Edward Buskey, Interim Director of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and Nancy Buskey, a retired nurse and accomplished watercolor artist known for her coastal-inspired work. She is survived by her father and sister Danielle, an elementary schoolteacher in Killeen, Texas. Her family’s love for the coast no doubt shaped her dreams of a career that would help her give back and help care for it.
Nikki’s experience in environmental communications was an invaluable asset to the Institute. From press releases, media interviews, multimedia productions, and institute publications, there wasn’t a public product that didn’t have Nikki’s stamp on it. HRI will be forever grateful for her work and will remember how it advanced the Institute’s impact across the Gulf.