Ken and Sonia Smith Scholarship
FSDA members for almost thirty years, Ken and Sonia facilitated the “Ocean Pals Poster Contest for Children”, which is an environmental education-through-art program as well as participating and assisting at FSDA tournaments and events. Ken & Sonia were also very active in their dive club: the Reef Rowdies, putting together trips and club events for their members. We lost Ken in 2014 and Sonia on the eve of 2019. Ken and Sonia’s spirit touched everyone around them and their contagious love for life, diving adventures, and the community will be greatly missed.
The FSDA board wanted to honor Ken and his wife Sonia for their years of service to the dive community. In 2017, FSDA board voted to create the “Ken & Sonia Smith Marine Conservation Endowment Fund”. This fund was created to help a deserving student benefit their studies in the field of Marine Research, Education and Protection.
The FSDA is fortunate to be in the fishing capital of the world and home to a world-class center for marine science. Our members have a vested interest in the care, conservation and management of our marine resources. This scholarship will be provided to one graduate student conducting marine research within the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Priority consideration will be given to applicants who are currently pursuing their studies in or are associated with the greater Tampa Bay area, reflecting our regional focus and commitment to local research initiatives. The scholarship recipient will be carefully selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of their academic achievements, demonstration of a commitment to continuing contributions to the field, as well as qualities that embody the shared values of Ken and Sonia – a passion for diving, a dedication to marine conservation efforts, and a commitment to engaging and inspiring the next generation through youth education.
The FSDA board wanted to honor Ken and his wife Sonia for their years of service to the dive community. In 2017, FSDA board voted to create the “Ken & Sonia Smith Marine Conservation Endowment Fund”. This fund was created to help a deserving student benefit their studies in the field of Marine Research, Education and Protection.
The FSDA is fortunate to be in the fishing capital of the world and home to a world-class center for marine science. Our members have a vested interest in the care, conservation and management of our marine resources. This scholarship will be provided to one graduate student conducting marine research within the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Priority consideration will be given to applicants who are currently pursuing their studies in or are associated with the greater Tampa Bay area, reflecting our regional focus and commitment to local research initiatives. The scholarship recipient will be carefully selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of their academic achievements, demonstration of a commitment to continuing contributions to the field, as well as qualities that embody the shared values of Ken and Sonia – a passion for diving, a dedication to marine conservation efforts, and a commitment to engaging and inspiring the next generation through youth education.
Past recipients:
2025: Hayden Staley
Hayden is a masters student at the University of Florida, and her research is focused on the life history of Gag grouper. Her work is helping better understand the complexities of sexual matury, including when and where females mature. Hayden has worked as a biologist with FWC for almost a decade, spending much of her time studying fish movement and reproduction. Hayden is also an avid spearfisher and no stranger to FSDA tournaments. When not taking home trophies, she spend much of her time at weigh-ins engaging with anglers and spearos alike, communicating the importance of her work, and listening to feedback form the community. Hayden is active in her community, volunteering each year at the Saint Petersburg Science festival and presenting her research at fishing club meetings.
2023: Alexa Putillo
Alexa is a PhD student in Biological Oceanography at Florida State University. Her research uses novel approaches to investigate the foraging ecology and habitat use of sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. This data will provide insights on the influence of sea turtles on important marine ecosystems such as seagrass beds. Alexa is committed to engaging diverse audiences in marine conservation and has participated in many outreach and educational programs. In her free time, she is an avid freediver, scuba diver, and is excited to also be joining the spearfishing community. Her career goals are to be an academic professor dedicated to mentorship and advancing the conservation of threatened marine species and habitats.
2022: Jamila Roth
Jamila Roth grew up in Massachusetts but her passion for marine ecology began with regular family camping trips to Cayo Costa State Park on the gulf coast of Florida and conversations at home living with her Tausug ("people of the sea current") grandmother. As an undergraduate at Skidmore College, she first gained aquatic ecology research experience while spending two consecutive summers studying trapping methods for invasive species in the Finger Lakes. While there, she led activities for elementary students related to aquatic ecology and has worked to continue engaging with youth education projects from then onward. Jamila is now pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology at the University of Florida, where she is investigating the impact of environmental change on seagrass resilience and seagrass-herbivore interactions, with the goal of producing results that can be used to develop novel approaches to incorporate resilience into seagrass restoration. She currently volunteers with the Gainesville Cultural Arts Coalition, leading hands-on activities at afterschool science clubs. SThroughout her career, she\ plans to continue researching the impact of environmental change on coastal ecosystems and identifying how the findings can aid in the restoration, conservation, and management of these ecosystems.
2021: Annais Bonilla-Johnson
Annais is a PhD student at Florida State University studying how reproductive characteristics can be used to assist in the management and conservation of sharks and rays. Annais is a scientific diver and is very involved with the community through the Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS) initiative, an organization that highlights the marine research of minority women and educates communities unfamiliar with marine research and career opportunities. Through this program, she currently teaches hands on boat stewardship, shark handling, sampling, and species identification techniques to MISS members and university undergraduate volunteers in Tampa Bay and Apalachicola Bay during monthly surveys. Her doctoral reserach focuses on quantifying embryonic maternal investment at key gestational stages in the Atlantic stingray (Hypanus sabina). Smith scholarship funds will be used to conduct further respirometry trials to assess possible differences in the physical performance of pregnant and non-pregnant stingrays with the potential to analyze changes in physical performance as gestation progresses.
2019: Liz Duermit Moreau
Elizabeth Duermit-Moreau is originally from Ohio, but developed a passion for marine biology at a young age. She started her path as a marine science instructor at Seacamp in the Florida Keys, where she taught young students about marine life by leading snorkeling trips. She then spent time working as a fisheries observer in the Alaskan groundfish fishery before moving to South Carolina to get her Master’s from the College of Charleston. There, she worked closely with the commercial stone crab industry learning how to catch stone crabs and tagged over 1500 crabs in the field. She then implemented a citizen science tag-reporting program, involving the public in scientific research. Her research helped influence the management decision in SC to only permit one-claw removal.
She then worked as a sea turtle biologist studying Kemp’s Ridley turtle strandings, conducted outreach presentations, and taught volunteers best practices for turtle conservation. Elizabeth is now pursuing her PhD at the University of Florida, studying stone crab disease, and how fishing pressure in Florida Bay affects pathogen transmission and disease susceptibility within the stone crab population. She continues her passion for education currently by mentoring undergraduates pursuing a career in marine biology.
She then worked as a sea turtle biologist studying Kemp’s Ridley turtle strandings, conducted outreach presentations, and taught volunteers best practices for turtle conservation. Elizabeth is now pursuing her PhD at the University of Florida, studying stone crab disease, and how fishing pressure in Florida Bay affects pathogen transmission and disease susceptibility within the stone crab population. She continues her passion for education currently by mentoring undergraduates pursuing a career in marine biology.
2018: Meaghan Emory
Meaghan was the very first recipient of the Smith scholarship, embodying the spirit of the award. Meaghan is a St. Pete local who is very active in our dive community. In 2018, she helped found the Women's Spearfishing Alliance (WSA), a FSDA club formed to encourage female participation in the sport of spearfishing and formally give women a voice in the spearfishing community. She also serves as the Secretary of the FSDA, not only keeping the clubs informed on FSDA matters, but also fisheries management decisions. Her masters degree is focused on the study of Hogfish life history, and relies heavily on samples donated by the spearfishing community. Her work bridges the gap between science and the public, and demonstrates the benefit of spearo-scientist collaboration. Meaghan is also passionate about youth outreach and education. As a former FWC employee working in the Lionfish Awareness program, she routinely created programs to teach young people about invasive species both in the classroom and at tournaments throughout the state.
