JJ Freier

marine Debris Technician i

Hometown: Damascus, Maryland

Current Residence: Wailuku, Maui, Hawai’i

JJ is someone who feels most at home with salty skin, bare feet, and tasty food nearby. Originally from Maryland, he’s chased a life around the ocean that’s given him the chance to teach diving on shipwrecks, research manta rays, and eventually plant roots on Maui. 

These days, he splits his time between captaining dive boats, pulling ghost nets off coral reefs, and blasting music with the windows down. JJ believes the best days end with a shared meal and a beautiful sunset, preferably after a long day doing work that matters. 

He’s stoked to join the mission to clean up Papahānaumokuākea—if there’s one thing he loves more than being in the ocean, it’s protecting it, preferably with a taco in hand.