Meet the Minds behind the Cause
Who We Are
Rachel Bowman
President
Rachel was introduced to lionfish by beer magnate billionaire Adolphus Busch IV in 2010. She was a participant on the 2nd Lionfish Invitational Research Trip and took over eight minutes after she was on the boat. She is a 3-time Lionfish World Championship winner and was the first person to sell lionfish to Whole Foods. Rachel lives in the Florida Keys with her Sexy Boyfriend and an unknown number of Maine Coons. She is more accurate at measuring fish than Dr. Holden Harris, and considers herself the luckiest person in the world. (She and Dr. Michelle Johnston have the same hair, if you are confused, look for tattoos and unladylike language, that’s Rachel!). If you have a good book suggestion, let her know.
Leah Neal
Treasurer
Leah is the GOAT in the aquarium world. She was the senior aquarist at the National Aquarium, the Director of Husbandry at the Ripley’s Aquarium in Canada, and is now the curator of the 3rd largest aquarium in the world, the Georgia Aquarium. She’s traveled the world scuba diving, can drink frozen margaritas without getting brain freeze, and been scuba diving with Shaquille O’Neal. Leah is also amazing at catching baby lionfish with Ziploc bags. You can see Leah being Leah on Animal Planet’s award-winning Aquarium show. She and Dr. Michelle Johnston were Scuba Baby Interns together at Disney, where a life-long friendship was forged. Leah has only missed one Lionfish Invitational trip since its inception, and we’re working on getting her a Time Machine so that this can be rectified.
Dr. Holden Harris
Vice President
Dr. Harris joined the Lionfish Invitational family in 2018 and has a PhD in scientific modeling (not magazine modeling, which was why we asked him to join in the first place.) Mentored by the Great And Wise Dr. Gittings, Holden has authored various scientific publications about lionfish and has great hair. We don’t know exactly what Holden does for a living, and it’s really boring when he explains it, so don’t ask. Holden speared more fish than Alex Fogg one time, and still brings it up. He legitimately likes long walks on the beach and dogs. And yes, that’s his real laugh.
Dr. Michelle Johnston
Originally from Ohio, Dr. Michelle Johnston attended UNCW and USC and her education and early work ranged from sea turtles to coral. Dr. Johnston has been working for NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary program since 2010, and in 2023 was named Superintendent of the Flower Garden Banks Nat’l Marine Sanctuary. Lionfish Invitational was her brainchild, the result of wondering “how can we get lionfish out of the Flower Gardens?” Dr. Johnston started her dive career as Scuba Mickey at Disneyworld. In addition to still being able to blow bubble kisses, she also surfs, wins triathlons, teaches yoga, raises baby goats, and is mother to the smartest 6-year-old currently on this planet. She is Rachel’s hair twin, but is much nicer. Dr. Johnston credits the Disney film “The Little Mermaid” as the inspiration behind her career choice of marine biology.
Dr. Steve Gittings
Dr. Grandpa is the Chief Scientist of NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries and the former Superintendent of the FGBNMS. He studied at Texas A&M, and brings 50 years of underwater science to the table. (ALL of the science. If he hasn’t studied it,it hasn’t been studied yet.). Dr. Gittings chills with Dr. Robert Ballard and is a Fellow of the Explorers Club. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute in the Cayman Islands. The man knows an alarming amount about barnacles, so tread carefully there. He has better stories than anyone else on the boat, so if he’s talking, just ssshhhhhh. Dr. G’ has recently assumed the role of Grandfather, so be prepared for baby pics.
Alex F@#$ing Fogg
Mr. Lionfish himself, Alex Fogg pioneered everything involved in the marketing, commercialization and competition metrics of the lionfish universe. Guy Harvey stole a Go-Pro video of Alex’s, and made a bazillion dollars off of it. After crushing every competitive and commercial lionfish event, Alex created the Mother Of All Tournaments, the Emerald Coast Open, the LARGEST LIONFISH EVENT IN HISTORY (since 2012). Lionfish sleep on Alex Fogg sheets. If Alex coached a Lionfish football team, they would beat the 1972 Miami Dolphins. If you look up Lionfish in the dictionary, there’s just a picture of Alex. Also, Alex is the Coastal Resources Manager of Okaloosa County in Florida, where he has successfully sunk over 100 artificial reefs. His next project will be the sinking of the LARGEST ARTIFICIAL REEF IN THE WORLD, the SS United States, and officially giving Alex F$%&Ing Fogg GOAT status.
Josh “Big Hoss” Harvey
An Army and Marine Veteran and former firefighter/paramedic, in 2018, Josh discovered that underwater is the only place in the world he doesn’t need to narcan a drug overdosed car jacker. Originally a trip participant, Josh became a volunteer diver with FGBNMS and then gave up his fire truck to accept a full-time job diving and building cool shit and solving underwater problems. Big Hoss is the DiveMaster on our trips, and his concern and care for us are completely outweighed by his pop culture trivia knowledge. DO NOT get into a gross-out story competition with him. He will win.