Volunteer of the Year

Rachel in a swimsuit with her mouth wide open in a giant grin as other divers move around behind her.

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 of Mexico. 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.

Rachel on the back deck of the boat sorting lionfish at night. — Not only is Rachel one of the divers removing lionfish from the sanctuary during each Invitational, but she's also one of the people processing all of the lionfish after every dive, which often means working late into the evening. (Photo: Kelly Drinnen/FGBNMS)

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.