Dawn "Cricket" Desmarais
Mission: Iconic Reefs Communications Coordinator
Dawn Desmarais joined the sanctuary team in January 2023 to oversee the marketing and communications for Mission: Iconic Reefs, an unprecedented, 20-year initiative to restore coral cover, diversity, and ecological function at seven targeted reefs within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Considered one of the largest strategies ever proposed in the field of coral restoration with many collaborating partners, the initiative brims with restoration expertise, research data, local business engagement, and community stewardship – success stories and integral information ready to be shared through various media channels and partnerships. Desmarais graduated in May 2023 with a bachelor's degree in marine resource management from the College of the Florida Keys and is trained as a AAUS scientific research diver with certification pending paperwork finalization, which allows her to support the project's research, monitoring, and stewardship teams and better tell their stories. She holds additional degrees including a master's degree in creative writing from New York University and a bachelor's in English from the University of New Hampshire. She has also freelanced as a marketing specialist and publicist in the Keys since 1997, and is a writer, dancer, and visual artist who uses her medium to create stewardship and calls for action. She lives in Key West with her two teen daughters and hopes to help make the world a better place for them in the ways that she can.