Follow Lindsay Jones

Highlights On This Page: Lindsay's Biography, Essay and Slideshow

Hometown: Preston, ID
SCA Work/Site Location: South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Network
Dream job: Mermaid! I’m getting pretty close…
Favorite book: "The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear"
Favorite movie: Most recently “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Inglorious Basterds”
Favorite park: I haven’t had the chance to experience nearly enough Parks to answer this well, but Joshua Tree still has me all googly about the strange beauty I saw out there.
Most memorable SCA moment: I’m still just in the first half of my year long internship and can only imagine what crazy things are coming my way in the next several months. So far the most exciting moment for me was when I was called to go on a lionfish hunt within the first month of my internship.  No one had expected a sighting so soon and when I spotted it on our second, last chance dive, I finally felt like I was the right person for the job and I was where I was supposed to be.
Background: Lindsay "Peanutbutter" Jones was born June 18, 1985 in Georgia. Since that fateful day she has lived not only in Georgia but also in Utah, Idaho, Florida, Queensland Australia, and a floating island in the Bering Sea. She has extensive experience in underwater archaeology, sub-Arctic ichthyology, scuba diving, and coconut-based cobblery. In her spare time Lindsay enjoys dancing, crafting, baking pies, tying knots, and taking epic road trips. Lindsay's current passion in life is to eradicate invasive lionfish species in South Florida's National Marine Parks.

Eradicating Invasive Lionfish

I became an SCA intern at the beginning of the summer with the charge of assessing the invasive lionfish population in Biscayne National Park. Lionfish are quickly taking over coral reefs in the Caribbean, eating as many tiny fish and invertebrates as possible – including commercially important juvenile fish (the ones that provide people with a living and food). The hope is that if we can get a handle on them in places where they aren’t dominating the reefs yet, we can keep their populations under control and the ecosystem in relative balance.

Not only are lionfish hard on the ecosystem, they also have venomous spines, which means nothing wants to munch them for dinner.  A major predator can’t be pinpointed in their native area (the Indo-Pacific), which is probably a good thing. Many disasters have been caused by one exotic species being imported to an area to control another. However, we humans, with our great history of unsustainable harvesting, are perfect for the job!  If you come across a lionfish the next time you’re in the water or at a fancy restaurant, dig in!

I’ve spent the summer learning a lot about marine monitoring of all kinds and the ins and outs of different methods of survey for different data and species.  It’s quite impressive how such a seemingly simple task (finding out if there are lionfish in Biscayne National Park) can be done in a multitude of ways, and a researcher has to make sure they choose the right way to get meaningful data.

REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) has been setting up projects around the Caribbean and has organized several Lionfish Derbies to get local people informed and involved in lionfish eradication. I have learned a lot from them and am ready to begin my first official research project.  I’m excited to use the data collected by our marine crew, including another SCA: Andrew Joseph Estep, to create a program that keeps lionfish out of Biscayne National Park.

My various experiences have shown me that normal, everyday people are the ones that will have the greatest effect on their local environment. I’ve spent several months diving almost everyday in the Park and happened upon zero lionfish, while we’ve started getting almost weekly reports of sightings from fisherman and sport divers. They are the ones who will keep Biscayne healthy.  I hope to use this internship to make people aware of their power and create some connections between the Sciences and the People. If the new friends and experiences I’ve had with them in the last 5 months are any representation of the remainder of my time as an SCA: AMAZING things are going to happen.