Leah Neal serves as an aquarist and dive safety officer for the National Aquarium, Washington, D.C.
Leah graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in biology. During her time at the university, Neal entered a co-op program where she applied her interest in marine biology to an internship with the New England Aquarium, working closely with its education team. While earning her degree, she also served as a staff intern at the Living Seas (renamed "The Seas with Nemo and Friends") at Walt Disney World's EPCOT.
A certified open water diver, Neal embarked on another internship with the New England Aquarium's dive staff. While there, she dove up to five times a day in a 200,000-gallon tank, caring for thousands of specimens of more than 130 species. Leah eventually left the New England Aquarium to manage a dive shop in Newton, MA. She gained more field experience as an open water SCUBA instructor, leading several dive trips throughout Caribbean waters.
In 2006, Leah joined the team of aquarists at the National Aquarium, Baltimore venue, and two years later she joined the Husbandry team of the National Aquarium's Washington venue to manage the Atlantic portion of the National Marine Sanctuary and National Parks. Her responsibilities include maintaining the animals' nutrition and health, as well as renovating life support and exhibit infrastructure. She also serves as the facility's dive safety officer, overseeing all onsite and field diving.
Though passionate about all fish, Leah holds a special interest in the red lionfish, an invasive species that is wreaking ecological havoc in the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. She continues to take an active role in the education and research of the fish's impact.
Leah has also dedicated much of her career to working with turtles. She leads a National Aquarium program that is designed to give sea turtle hatchlings a population boost. She ensures the temporary residents of this threatened species receive the proper care and nutrition, so they grow normally and experience good health until they are released back into their natural habitats.
Leah is a member of the Professional Association of Dive Instructors and Reef Environmental Education Foundation. She currently lives in the Baltimore area.
