Each year we select one person to be recognized as our sanctuary Volunteer of the Year. This is our way of acknowledging the efforts of individuals who donate time and energy to help us meet our goals.
2024 Volunteer of the Year
Rachel Bowman
Marathon, FL
Rachel Bowman is passionate about protecting Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary resources and making sure that people get to experience this special place in the Gulf. Since she began volunteering as the Lionfish Invitational trip coordinator in 2016, thousands of lionfish have been removed from the sanctuary, providing data for numerous scientific projects, as well as saving millions of native reef fish from lionfish predation.
As a resident of the Florida Keys and an avid ocean conservationist, Bowman was inspired to help with the invasive lionfish problem. To do this, she learned to scuba dive and safely spear lionfish. She enjoyed the sport so much, that she started participating in lionfish derbies, often winning prizes for the most lionfish removed. From there, her interests moved to helping organize lionfish removal events for others. This eventually led her to play a leading role in organizing the sanctuary's Lionfish Invitational.
Since 2017 she has coordinated and participated in every Lionfish Invitational trip that has taken place in the sanctuary. This has included starting her own non-profit to support these missions, raising money to subsidize the costs of these trips, and establishing a new partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife to remove lionfish from artificial reefs near the sanctuary. As if that's not enough, she has also helped tag lionfish that remain in the sanctuary so that we can learn more about their movements, and participated in lionfish dissections that help us understand more about the impacts lionfish are having on our reefs.
Her enthusiasm and positive energy are an inspiration to others, and an example of how pursuing your passion makes every day an adventure. Our lionfish trips simply would not happen without her dedication, and they wouldn't be half as much fun without her contagious energy.
Previous Volunteers of the Year
2023 Adrienne Correa
2022 N/A
2021 N/A
2020 Fernando Calderón Gutiérrez
2019 Jake Emmert
2018 Nicole Morgan
2017 Andrea Stromeyer
2016 Scott Hickman
2015 Jesse Cancelmo
2014 Matt Stout
2013 Tom Oglin
2012 Clint Moore
2011 Kevin Buch
2010 Jacqueline Stanley
2009 George Hanks
2008 Tim Gibson
2007 Pete Bryant
2006 Haidee Williams
2005 Joyce & Frank Burek