By Rachel Arndt
It was a hot September morning when Chris Sutton, environmental scientist for Tampa Bay Watch, cheerfully welcomed a group of volunteers ready to get dirty to help Tampa Bay. While many people hide from the Florida sun in air-conditioned offices, Sutton endures even Florida’s worst heat three days a week to work with a dedicated corps of volunteers pouring concrete that becomes more than 1,000 oyster domes every year.
Sutton, who celebrated his 10th year with Tampa Bay Watch in January, credits his inspiration to pursue a career in the environmental field to Ted Adams, his marine biology teacher at Chamberlain High School. Chamberlain was one of the first schools to institute Tampa Bay Watch’s Bay Grasses in Classes (BGIC) program and Adams played a critical role in getting it off the ground in 1994.
Upon graduation, Sutton found it impossible to leave the Tampa Bay area where he enjoyed waterskiing, sailing, boating, fishing and any activity on the water. “I loved BGIC, from the creation of the nursery on campus to the planting of salt marsh plugs at a restoration site with a field trip to the beach,” Sutton said. “I decided that I wanted to help keep Tampa Bay beautiful for a living.”
While majoring in environmental policy at Eckerd College, Sutton obtained an internship with Tampa Bay Watch his senior year where he was active in Manatee Watch and assisted with the oyster dome program. One month before he graduated, he was offered a full-time position with Tampa Bay Watch.
Over the past 10 years, Sutton has grown the oyster dome program from making and installing 100 domes per year at private residences to 1,000 domes per year at permitted sites such as Bayshore Boulevard and the shoreline of MacDill Air Force Base. He is also responsible for the seagrass transplanting and scallop programs.
“Chris's commitment to the environment and our hands-on approach to addressing the problems of the Bay are unmistakable,” says Peter Clark, president of Tampa Bay Watch. “His office — and his passion – are the great outdoors.”
Sutton also enjoys knowing that his work will help ensure that his own children will be able to share his passion for Tampa Bay. “As a life-long resident of Tampa, I feel so lucky to get paid to work on the restoration of this beautiful bay every day,” he says.