Interviewer: Laura Ek

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I met Sheila Nelson while mapping the oil center with Lillian Miller back in September. We were walking around and stopped in the MedcoEnergi office to look at their paintings in the lobby, and Sheila was introduced to us. She seemed very willing to talk and I stayed in touch with her in the hope that we could set up an interview upon my return to the area.

Sheila Nelson was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. Her family is from Scott and Carencro, and she describes her family as poor Creole sharecroppers who were not well educated. She was among the first in her family to complete high school (1978), and went on to college before leaving after 3.5 years to take care of her ailing mother. She said she had no regrets about leaving for her mother, because family is important to her. In 1981 she was married to her husband. He comes from New Iberia and she described his family as a long line of sugarcane farmers. From 1981-1982 when the bust began, his family encouraged them to move to New Iberia because it was in a better location and they found work there. Sheila got a job at Sears to supplement their income and they lived in an apartment to save money. Her first job in the oil industry was with Fireboss, whom she worked for from 1986-1990. Her duties for Fireboss included being a receptionist and training workers with their safety glasses. From 1986-1988 she and her husband and two daughters moved to New York for work because jobs in Lafayette were not available. In the 1990s, she and her husband and two daughters moved to California for about a year. Her husband stayed to work, but they came home to Lafayette. She worked for the Daily Iberian in the early 1990s (a newspaper out of New Iberia).She became one of the first female and Creole lay ministers in her Catholic church 1978 or 1979. She recently became actively involved with her church again because she enjoys it and has a strong faith.

She worked for CSI Service Tech, American Oilfield Divers, and Schlumberger. At American Oilfield Divers, she was involved in operations directly with 6 project managers, calling divers to their locations. At Schlumberger, she was a data coordinator where she converted raw data from offshore to supply to MMS.

She began in a temp agency and they eventually placed her at MedcoEnergi (first Darcy Exploration then Louisiana Oil and Gas before it became MedcoEnergi in 2005). She is currently in charge of human resources at MedcoEnergi. She said it was a milestone for her to be working in the industry and has provided an open door of opportunity to her and other members of her family. She discusses the moratorium, the culture of this area, and what keeps her coming back.