(11/17/16) BATON ROUGE, La. – Twin sisters Brooke and Bryce Fontenot share the same physical feature: curly brown hair and identical smiles. But the resemblance runs much deeper.

The sisters are each working on a master’s degree in plant, environmental management and soil sciences in the LSU College of Agriculture School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. They plan to graduate in December. Late in their final semester, the sisters have the exact same grade point average of 4.05.

The similarities don’t stop there. Brooke and Bryce also work full time for the same company, Arcadis, doing environmental consulting. And they were hired on the same day.

“We’re a package deal,” Brooke said, and it does seem that way. They both attended Southeastern Louisiana University, each receiving a degree in biological sciences.

They also taught classes at Southeastern and said their students often went to the wrong sister with class questions.

“We’ve always had the same interests. We played the same sports and always enjoyed being together,” Bryce said. They spent summers working together at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans.

The BP oil spill occurred during their last semester at Southeastern, and they said that sparked an interest the environment.

Maud Walsh, a professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, advised both sisters throughout their master’s programs.

“It was a pleasure working with Brooke and Bryce,” Walsh said. “They both had very clear objectives in entering the master’s program – expanding their scientific knowledge and enhancing their scientific communication skills – and worked very hard to meet their goals while working full time as environmental consultants.”

Their work at Arcadis includes ecological risk assessments, wetland delineation audits and permit reviews.

They agreed that it can be confusing for their co-workers.

“They try to memorize what we are wearing each day to tell us apart or try to figure it out from which side of the hallway we came from,” Bryce said.

The sisters, whose maiden name is McLin and who are originally from Erwinville, now reside in Baton Rouge. They both married electrical engineers with the last name of Fontenot, though the husbands aren’t related.

“Bryce’s husband introduced me to my husband,” Brooke said.

The sisters, who shared a room until Bryce got married, are now sharing a house. Bryce’s home flooded in August, so she and her husband are staying with Brooke and her husband while the flooded home is being repaired.

Living together again has turned a negative situation into a positive.

“Our husbands get along, and we’re having fun, so it’s been fine,” Bryce said.

Throughout school, the workday and their lives in general, Brooke and Bryce agreed it’s great going through it all together.

“No matter what happens, you always have someone,” Brooke said.

Twin sisters and graduate students Brooke Fontenot and Bryce Fontenot plan to graduate in December with master’s degrees in plant, environmental management and soil sciences from LSU. They currently have the exact same GPA. Photo by Tobie Blanchard

Twin sisters Bryce Fontenot and Brooke Fontenot work together doing environmental consulting for Arcadis. Photo provided by Brooke Fontenot