L. Harold Stevenson is Professor of Environmental Science at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana. A native of Louisiana, he received the B.S. in Zoology form Southeastern Louisiana College and the M.S. and Ph.D. in Microbiology form Louisiana State University. He moved up the academic ranks from Assistant Professor to Professor of Biology and of Marine Science at the University of South Carolina. He also served on the faculty of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and as a Fellow of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research. He has served as the Department Head of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at McNeese State University and as Managing Editor of Estuaries, The Journal of the Estuarine Research Federation.

Currently, Stevenson also serves as the Director of the Violet H. Howell Institute for the Study of Industry-Community Relations. His primary teaching responsibilities include Introduction to Environmental Science (freshmen-level courses), Aquatic Pollution, and Solid Waste Management. Stevenson also organized and taught an academic skills course (University 101) designed to assist entry-level students in their transition to higher education. He has published greater than 30 articles in the referred scientific literature and shares authorship on four books, the latest of which is the This Is Your Ticket: Lessons in College Success. Stevenson was selected as the recipient of the McNeese Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award in 2002 and as a recipient of the Pinnacle Excellence Award in 2004.