We are excited to welcome Alexa "Lex" Bryant to the REEF Team as Conservation Science Associate. Lex joined the staff at the beginning of 2022 and is based at the REEF Campus in Key Largo. She grew up outside of Boston, where she started her marine science journey. She was certified to dive when she was 14, exploring the New England waters. Around the same time, she started working aboard the F/V Erica Lee II out of Newburyport, MA, and spent her summers teaching marine science. Lex eventually worked her way up to First Mate and started her commercial fishing career. Finding her passion in marine life, she earned a degree in Earth Science with a concentration in Ocean Science from Oregon State University in 2018. After college, she advanced her diving certifications and moved to the Florida Keys to work in the dive industry and volunteer with local conservation organizations. Lex's sense of adventure is strong, and most recently, she spent the summer of 2021 in Bristol Bay, Alaska, harvesting the wild sockeye salmon fishing run as a commercial set-net fisher. Lex will work alongside our Conservation Science Manager, Dr. Alli Candelmo, on a variety of projects, from invasive species to cutting-edge citizen science efforts. Her first project is to coordinate a multi-year study funded by NOAA using science-based solutions for improved management of the invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish. This work brings together local fishers to design, build, and deploy deep-water traps that will enable efficient removal of lionfish. When not trying to save the planet, Lex enjoys travel, paddle boarding, photography above and below the waves, and reading at a local coffee shop with her corgi, Swab. Welcome Lex!
