Leah Jones

Leah is a Fisheries Observer in the Northeast Fisheries Observer and At-Sea Monitor Programs. She has over 100 days at sea collecting biological data aboard commercial fishing vessels in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, mostly deploying out of ports in New York. Prior to observing, she worked at a water quality control agency in California’s Central Valley writing regulations to control mercury pollution. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. In her free time she enjoys painting, camping, running, and spending time with friends and family. 

Her favorite things about observing are seeing dolphins, watching sunrises and sunsets of unmatched beauty, conversing with captains and crew, handling and identifying cool ocean creatures, and the feeling of a hard day’s work complete. She appreciates observing as an opportunity to develop skills in field biology while acquiring monitoring data essential to maintaining the health of our oceans.