Dare to Imagine: Dr. Vanessa McDonough

Women (and men) Lifting Women

"Vanessa is a truly amazing scientist, park professional, and human being. She is a respected fixture at Biscayne National Park, who tackles a wide range of management challenges. She is a gifted communicator who readily shares her work with passion. And over the years, Vanessa has been a strong mentor to countless aspiring professionals in the early stages of their own careers. We need a Vanessa in every park!"

-Larry Perez, Communications Coordinator, Climate Change Response Program

Vanessa, what project would you like to highlight?

Marine debris removal work which entails cleaning up reefs of derelict fishing gear and other (mostly) fishing and boating-related trash, as well as cleaning up our coastlines (including sea turtle nesting beaches) from all the floating garbage that washes ashore.

A volunteer group poses with all the marine debris they collected during a beach clean-up.

Will you tell us a little about that project?

Our marine debris removal work is multi-faceted. From the most simple perspective, we do it because pollution is ugly and visitors to a national park shouldn't be seeing derelict lobster traps and lost anchors on the reef and piles of plastic water bottles and other debris on our beaches. But what I consider a more important aspect of why we do this work is to improve habitat quality and to better understand the impacts of this debris on wildlife and habitat. Our work goes beyond simply picking up garbage; we inventory what we collect, we weigh or measure it, and we categorize it by its source (trap fisheries, hook-and-line fisheries, boating, diving, food-and-drink etc.).

A hermit crab that has settled into a piece of marine debris instead of a more appropriate shell.

We have also documented the extent of injuries and deaths caused by different types of debris to different types of stationary reef life, such as stony corals and sponges. In some cases, we also do repeat surveys over the same exact section of the reef so we can better understand the re-accumulation rates of this debris. This work helps us understand how different user groups are affecting our resources, how we can better manage those resources, and where we need to increase our outreach efforts to improve visitor awareness and a sense of stewardship for the resources they are using. For our beach clean-up work, it is worth noting that these clean-ups are done in large part with the assistance of volunteer groups. Many volunteers are shocked when they arrive at our beach for a clean-up and witness the appalling amount of trash that has been carried ashore.

As far as the prompt about what I hear all the time, in this case, it's more about what I see/observe all the time, and that is that most people simply aren't aware of the problem of marine debris. The reality of visitation at Biscayne National Park is that most visitors come to the park by car or by boat; I would estimate that the majority don't actually get in the water and look around or make it to our beaches to observe the excessive debris. This means that for most people, they simply don't see that there's a problem. It is difficult to engage the public and get them to care about something that is eight miles from the mainland or deep below the ocean's surface and that they have not personally experienced. For many people, that soda can or food wrapper that was thoughtlessly tossed overboard simply becomes "out of sight, out of mind". By doing this work and by consistently posting our observations and outcomes on park social media accounts, we are helping to bring awareness of this problem to park visitors and to the public in general.

What was your path like? How did you get to where you are now?

I entered federal service through a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fellowship which I received while in graduate school earning my PhD in biology. After a couple of years at NOAA, I transferred to Biscayne National Park, where I have had the opportunity to participate in an incredibly diverse array of resource management activities: fishery management, sea turtle nesting monitoring, invasive plant control, endangered cactus salvage and rearing, studying rare palms, researching the lionfish invasion, responding to wildlife strandings etc. One of the key things I have learned along the way is the importance of partnerships with others. None of us can do this alone and none of us is an expert on everything, but when we come together, large projects become much more manageable and the expertise of many ensures the job is done correctly.

Vanessa diving near a large colony of the endangered Pillar Coral.

What was the hardest part about getting where you are? How did you overcome it?

The hardest part about getting where I am was accepting the reality that we will likely never have all the resources (time, funds, staffing) to tackle the many resource management challenges we face. It can be easy to get discouraged and exasperated. I overcome this by learning to accept that we can only do what we have the resources to do, prioritizing work activities, and having appropriate expectations, while also always trying to think creatively about how to partner with others who might be able to complement our resources or provide additional resources we are lacking.

What are you most proud of?

I am proud of the way I have managed and grown the Fish and Wildlife Inventory and Monitoring Program at Biscayne National Park. Over the years, we have expanded what we do, incorporating newly arising ecological and environmental issues (invasive lionfish, pythons, coral disease etc) and increased our partnerships and collaborative efforts with other scientists to provide the best resource management that we can.

Favorite Quote?

The Dare to Imagine Project is funded by an Innovation and Impact Grant provided by the National Park Foundation. This grant supports projects and programs that help the National Park Service share a more comprehensive American narrative that includes the voices of women whose vision, tenacity, and resilience moved them to climb mountains, take down barriers, shape history, protect the environment, and lead social movements. Read more of these women's stories on the Dare to Imagine page.