Jack Butler

Jack Butler is a postdoctoral researcher at Florida International University's Institute of Environment. His research focuses on developing and employing low-cost technology to answer marine ecological questions - particularly methods to aid conservation and restoration of coastal habitats. Some of his current projects include developing trap-deployable, long-term camera systems to monitor deepwater traps off the Florida Keys to help remove invasive lion fish, pairing passive acoustic and imagery datasets to identify and monitor ecologically and economically important fish species within Southern California kelp forests, and developing a underwater speaker system to augment hard-bottom habitat restoration efforts in the Florida Keys.

Jack received his BS in Zoology from the University of Florida, where he worked as a research technician in the salt marshes of coastal Georgia. There he found his love of marine science and decided to pursue his PhD in Ecological Sciences from Old Dominion University. His dissertation research focused on the role that marine soundscapes play in the recruitment of larvae to back-reef hard-bottom habitats of the Florida Keys, and how habitat degradation and restoration alter these processes.

March 2021