Austin Staton About Austin
Austin Staton is a senior communications executive with more than 15 years of experience leading corporate reputation, executive communications, and media strategy in highly regulated, high-visibility environments. He currently serves as director of media relations at CSX, where he advises senior leadership and leads enterprise media and executive communications supporting CEO transitions, major capital investments, regulatory matters, and crisis response across a national footprint.
Prior to joining CSX, Austin held communications roles across energy, infrastructure, and consulting, including positions at bp, TC Energy, and Pierpont Communications. Across these roles, he partnered closely with executives, legal teams, engineers, and policymakers to translate complex operational, technical, and regulatory issues into clear, credible narratives for media, investors, and key stakeholders.
At TC Energy, Austin supported U.S. operations during a period of heightened public, regulatory, and investor scrutiny, serving as a strategic advisor on media, policy-adjacent, and operational communications across North America. Earlier, at Pierpont Communications, he advised corporate and private equity–backed clients on crisis communications, executive positioning, and narrative development across broadcast, digital, and print channels.
Austin spent nearly a decade at bp in progressively senior communications roles, where he led digital and multimedia strategy, executive media training, and crisis communications across U.S. operations. His experience included serving as a public information officer during bp’s initial COVID-19 response in the Gulf of Mexico and completing international secondments supporting communications across Brazil and Oman.
In addition to his professional work, Austin is a Trustee at WJCT Public Media, providing governance and strategic counsel for public media in Northeast Florida. He is also a past president of IABC Houston, where he led the organization to recognition as the 2020 IABC International Chapter of the Year and expanded professional development, mentorship, and thought leadership initiatives.
Austin is a native of The Woodlands, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Baylor University and a Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School Online.
To contact Austin, click here.
Austin Staton 