Emily Schutz

Title: Journalism Student

Association, Company, Affiliations: Columbia University

Your message or mission statement: I love to write about issues that matter, and to me, the invasive lionfish population was one that needed to be addressed. Prior to studying communications at school, I was a biology major. I wanted to positively impact coastal ecosystems through a career in that field. Although biology wasn’t the major I decided to stick with, I knew that I still wanted to focus on marine life in my writing. My mission statement is simply to share the stories that need to be heard.

Your latest endeavors and where they take place: My most recent long-form article was about the community effort in reducing the invasive lionfish population. I completed this piece remotely but interviewed experts, fishermen, and marine life organizations throughout Florida and elsewhere. The research and interview process was thoroughly enjoyable and taught me a great deal about this issue and how involved the community really is.

What efforts are you most proud of? I’m happy that my article about this topic can be shared and hopefully teach others a thing or two about lionfish and the lionfish hunting community. My largest goal through writing is to share stories that need to be told and I believe this is one of those stories. Having others read it means a lot to me.

Anything else you’d like us to know? Prior to my research about lionfish and the community, I really knew nothing about it. With each interview, I conducted I learned something new that surprised me. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to speak to so many in the community and to have heard so much about the efforts to reduce the invasive lionfish population.